The guidelines that the Bogotá Education Department established for private schools

The District Secretary of Education established guidelines regarding “other periodic charges” that, in addition to tuition and board, They will be authorized in private educational establishments in the city starting in 2025.

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This measure seeks to provide legal security to both families and schools in the various Local Education Directorates.

The new regulations, which are framed in Resolution 1725 of October 7, 2024, establishes that the concepts that private schools wish to collectar, as long as they are directly related to the provision of the educational service and are approved by the Board of Directors of each establishmentmay be authorized by the Secretariat.

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Authorized “other periodic charges” include: school outings, coexistence, duplicate diplomas and degree certificates, certifications and certificates, extracurricular activitiesaccident insurance, student ID, degree rights for 11th grade students, school agenda, military instruction for schools authorized by the Ministry of Defense, communications platform and library bank.

On the other hand, the resolution also specifies which concepts may not be charged as “other periodic charges.” Those that are an inherent part of the educational service, such as leveling, validation, parent school, mandatory social service, flag raising, coexistence manual, teaching materials and bilingualism contemplated in the PEI, must be included in the school pension.

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Likewise, concepts related to the administrative and operational component of the educational establishment will not be authorized, the value of which is already included in the annual fee charged per student. such as systematization of notes, stationery and cleaning supplies, communications, interventions in the physical plant and maintenance of personal property.

The regulations also establish that charging for payments to third parties will not be allowed when the services are not provided directly by the educational establishment. This includes graduation ceremonies, preparation for the pre-Icfes course, mock Saber tests, ambulance service and foreign language proficiency exams.

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Schools

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In relation to supplies and uniforms, the Resolution states that private schools must provide families, at the time of registration, with the complete list of school supplies, textbooks and uniforms. It is recalled that, in accordance with Law 1269 of 2008 and directive 07 of 2010 of the Ministry of National Education, You can only request one daily uniform and another for physical education.

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Finally, non-official educational institutions will not be able to charge items that are not expressly authorized in the Resolution. In the event that there are unregulated concepts, The Local Directorate of Education must submit a study request to the Directorate of Relations with the Private Educational Sector of the District Secretary of Education.