Officials of Colegio de San Lorenzo appears before DepEd-NCR

Officials of Colegio de San Lorenzo (CDSL) in Quezon City appeared this Thursday at the office of the Department of Education-National Capital Region to explain the sudden closure of the school.

One of the owners, Bembong Balgan, is a former mayor of Macabebe, Pampanga and is also on the college’s board of trustees.

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It can be recalled that many parents and students complained when CDSL suddenly announced its permanent closure on Monday, which should have been the first day of classes.

Parents complained why the college still accepted payment if it had plans to close.

According to RJ Taganas, director of the CDSL student affairs office, it was pursued until the end of the school year to reach the target number of students.

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The number of CDSL enrollees was around 2,400 before the pandemic. But now it’s only around 600, according to Taganas.

Meanwhile, parents’ tuition fees are gradually being returned. As of Wednesday, 100 of the college’s 600 enrollees had received their checks.

One student reported that they were asked to sign a waiver and were not allowed to complain against the school once the check was received.

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Officials of Colegio de San Lorenzo appeared before DepEd-NCR

Because of what happened, DepEd formed a task force to focus on the case and the students and employees affected by the sudden closure.

management in Quezon City announced that they would be closing their school permanently due to financial issues resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic and low number of students enrolled this school year.

“With a very heavy heart, we would like to inform you that due to the financial instability and lack of financial viability brought about by the ongoing pandemic and exacerbated by consistent low enrollment turnout over the past years, the Board of Trustees has come to the painful and difficult decision to permanently close our educational institution, Colegio De San Lorenzo,” according to the school’s statement posted on their Facebook page.

According to the statement, they will fully refund the  paid by those who enrolled in this school year 2022-2023.

It is said that they will also help the students transfer to another school and release their records and credentials immediately.

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