PHILIPPINES Economic crisis and Covid drag Filipino Catholic schools

With more than 30 years of activity, the Colegio de San Lorenzo in Quezon City closes. About 85% of the 865 private schools that suspended their activities were run or founded by Catholics. The phenomenon affects 58,327 students and 4,488 teachers. In the 2020-21 academic year, more than 250,000 students transferred from private to public institutions.

Manila () – With more than 30 years of activity, the Colegio de San Lorenzo, a private Catholic institution founded in 1987 in Quezon City, announced the permanent suspension of all activities due to the serious economic crisis, exacerbated by covid. “With a sad heart -explain the directors in a note- we want to inform you that, due to economic instability and without the prospect of financing on the horizon, aggravated by the pandemic […] The Board of Directors has made the tough decision to definitively close the establishment”.

The low number of registrations for the 2022-23 academic year, explain those responsible, makes it “difficult to continue operating” and those who have already paid their fees will be refunded the full amount. Students may also have help enrolling at other schools, including those starting their first year of college.

Colegio de San Lorenzo is a Catholic institution founded by Annette and Cirilo Lloyd Balgan. One of the inspiring principles of the college was to “respond to the call of the Church for a greater participation of the laity in the apostolate of education”. Students were provided with a comprehensive education that transcended the field of knowledge based on a training that also encompassed the spiritual field, inspired by Saint Lorenzo Ruiz De Manila and “living his way in the service of God.”

The Quezon City institution ended its activity on August 15 and reflects a broader crisis affecting Catholic schools in the Philippines in general, as data from the Ministry of Education shows. Indeed, more than 85% (about 700) of the 865 private schools – out of a total of 14,000 – that closed at this time throughout the country were founded or administered by Catholics. The economic crisis, aggravated by the pandemic emergency, has drastically reduced the funds available.

The closures affected 58,327 students and 4,488 teachers.

The Holy Spirit School of Manila, an institution with 109 years of history behind it, closed its doors in 2020, the first year of the health (as well as economic and social) crisis triggered by the new coronavirus. In the last two years, the experts explain, a large number of students from private schools decided to go to public institutions: “According to our data – underlines the Minister of Education Leonor Briones – before the 2020-2021 academic year began, at least 250,539 students went from private institutions to public schools”.

The controversy over the sudden closure of the Colegio de San Lorenzo remains open, which, according to some critics, was not given enough notice, acting in a way that is considered “arbitrary.” The Higher Education Commission (CHEd) has opened a file on the matter, and its president Próspero de Vera referred to “possible violations” in the adopted procedure.