The Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) has yet to start its investigation on the sudden closure of the Colegio de San Lorenzo in Quezon City that affected thousands of students, its chairperson Prospero De Vera III admitted yesterday.
“Actually, I have not yet instructed the CHEd legal (department) to look into that,” De Vera said in a press conference on Tuesday afternoon.
De Vera said that CHED’s priority right now is to help affected students to find new schools that will absorb them.
“Let’s fix that (transfer of the affected students) first because the number one accountability of the commission is to help the students. After that, we’ll see,” he said.
“We will get there at the proper time. We just want to assure everyone that the commission is doing its best and the universities are extending a helping hand. And for that, we thank the private and public universities,” the CHED chair added.
De Vera earlier said that the commission would conduct an investigation on the closure considering that the school management did not inform them prior to its move last month, days before the start of classes.
For her part, CDSL President Mary Claire Teresa Balagan said they are ready to face any investigation to be conducted by CHEd and the local government of Quezon City on their decision to shut down operations.
“Of course, we intend to cooperate with all regulatory bodies and the local government with the investigation that will happen,” Balagan said.
“But right now, our focus is to make sure our students have a new college and university to go to. I hope we are the last school to close. This is a sad and very painful event for us,” she added.
CDSL earlier announced its permanent closure due to financial instability as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic and low enrolment turnout over the past two years.
Meanwhile, CDSL spokesperson, lawyer Mark Vixen Dorado, said of the 738 students enrolled in its basic education department, 735 have already claimed the refund of their tuition while 625 of the 653 college students have their tuition checks released.
He said another 421 students have their documents and credentials already released.
Dorado urged students to claim their credentials and refunds.
The school is hoping to complete the refund on 26 August, saying their offices will remain open until 20 September for those who would want to collect their refunds later.