MANILA, 21 May — The Commission on Higher Education (CheD) has uncovered a number of schools offering college courses to Filipinos in Saudi Arabia without the corresponding permit from the Philippine government, a report by the Philippine Star said yesterday.
The report quoted CheD Commissioner Rogaya Maglangit as saying the schools offer four-year courses and charge exorbitant fees.
"Some of these schools are offering pre-baccalaureate courses that we have in the Philippines even without licenses from the national government, or from CHED in particular," Maglangit was quoted by the report as saying.
Maglangit, the former chief of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao Development Academy, headed a four-member team in Saudi Arabia to forge mutual education cooperation with legitimate universities in the kingdom.
The other members of the delegation were Dr. Luningning Omar, president of the Basilan State University; Lourdes Lim, director for Central Mindanao of the National Economic Development Authority; and Dr. Zenaida Hadji-Raof-Laidan of the Department of Science and Technology in Central Mindanao.
Maglangit identified the schools as Achievers International School, the International Philippine Schools (IPS), the Al-Hemi International School, and the Jeddah Reef International School.
All four offer engineering, nursing, medical and dental courses, and allied fields and were also offering elementary and high school curriculums, she was quoted as saying.
"If some of their students and pupils would return home and transfer to our local schools, the subjects they have taken in Saudi Arabia will not be recognized and credited by existing schools in the country," Maglangit said.
The Star report said the owners of the Filipino-owned schools met her in Jeddah last week and sought her help in obtaining CHeD permits and be accredited as legitimate Philippine tertiary institutions.
"They admitted that they do not have permits indeed, except for so-called 'twinning agreements' with Manila universities," she was quoted as saying.
In Jeddah, the schools accredited to teach the Philippine curriculum are Jan International, Al-Hekma International School, and the International Philippine School in Jeddah (IPSJ).