Private higher education institutions (HEIs) in the Philippines may face a shortage of operating funds in two months if the "no permit, no exam" policy is banned by the government, according to the Coordinating Council of Private Educational Associations (Cocopea).
The group's chairman, Bernard Villamor, cautioned that private HEIs' remaining fee collections would only cover an average of 7.7 months of operating expenses.
The prohibition of the policy would significantly weaken the financial capacity of 27 private colleges and universities, and their remaining funds would only be enough to cover two months of expenses.
Villamor said that if the private HEIs were to run out of operating cash, they would need to seek external or alternative sources of financing such as savings or loans.
“After which, colleges and universities would run out of operating cash and would need to find external or other sources of financing (such as loans or savings) to cover their costs. This is a significant drop from the 7.7-month average colleges and universities have under the status quo,” Villamor said in the press release.
This is a sharp decline from the 7.7-month average that colleges and universities have under the current status quo.
The House of Representatives passed House Bill No. 7584 on May 8, which prohibits schools from implementing the "no permit, no exam" policy, allowing private school students to take their tests even if they have unpaid fees.
