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MANILA, Philippines – Citing difficulties in attracting new students and increasing enrollment, the 107-year-old Colegio del Espíritu Santo de Manila (CHSM) will cease operations after the 2021-2022 school year.
In a letter dated October 28 to the CHSM community, Sr. Carmelita Victoria of the Missionary Sisters Servants of the Holy Spirit said that while the school had managed to survive over the years with the strong support of her former students, faculty and staff, the challenges it faced alongside the country’s education sector had “become increasingly complex” in the last decade.
‘SIGNS OF THE TIMES’ Struggling to stay viable, the Colegio del Espíritu Santo de Manila, is delivered until the end of the 2021-2022 school year to close its operations. —RICHARD A. REYES
Aggravated situation
“The recent COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the situation. Reduced or lost family income, mobility restrictions and social distancing requirements, and new demands for distance education have negatively affected enrollment, not only at CHSM, but also at most private schools, ”he said Victoria, provincial leader of the order. who runs the school.
“After consulting with representatives of our stakeholders and a prayerful and profound discernment process, we are now even more convinced that the Holy Spirit speaks clearly to us through the signs of the times, forcing us to make this decision. extremely difficult: closing CHSM at the end of the 2021-2022 academic year, ”said Victoria.
He said the schedule would allow CHSM to graduate its current junior and junior college students “should they decide to stay.”
‘Challenging environment’
Also among the factors that had created a “challenging environment” for the school, he said, were government policies on the K-12 curriculum; free tuition at state colleges and universities, local colleges and universities, and state technical and vocational institutions; and the significant increase in salaries for public school teachers compared to their private school counterparts.
As of October, 865 private schools across the country have notified that they will close this year. Education officials attributed their decision to the increased cost of operations and the low enrollment rate due to the pandemic and the ensuing economic slowdown.
Mendiola Consortium
According to Victoria, CHSM management had initiated a series of dialogues with its faculty and staff, parents and students, and the alumni community about the process of implementing the decision.
Founded in 1913, CHSM is a Catholic blended learning institution that is part of the Mendiola Consortium, an organization of five schools located along Mendiola Street in Manila, an area best known for being the site of protest demonstrations near Malacañang. . The consortium also includes the Centro Escolar University, San Beda University, La Consolación College and Saint Jude Catholic School.
Formerly known as Holy Ghost College, it was originally exclusively for girls, but began admitting male students to the high school department in 2005 and to the colleges department the following year.
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