AUTHORIZING THE SECRETARY OF EDUCATION AND CULTURE TO REGULATE THE IMPOSITION OF TUITION AND OTHER SCHOOL FEES, REPEALING REPUBLIC ACT NO. 6139, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

• Number: Presidential Decree No. 451
• Sections: 11

Preamble

WHEREAS, private schools, colleges and universities have

been faced with increasingly serious problems arising from decreasing

incomes due to slump in enrolment and increasing operational costs

brought about by the rise in prices of instructional materials and

educational, as well as allied services;

WHEREAS, it is imperative that private educational

institutions upgrade classroom instruction by improving their facilities

and hiring competent teachers in all levels of education, provide

salary and/or wage increases and other benefits to their teaching,

administrative and other personnel to keep up with the increasing cost

of living;

WHEREAS, the procedure prescribed under R.A. No. 6139 for

the increase of tuition and other school fees has been proved to be too

cumbersome and time-consuming, and is not conducive to the growth and

improvement of private educational institutions and the well-being of

their employees, particularly those in the lower income groups; and

WHEREAS, in order to alleviate the sad plight of private

schools, their personnel and all those directly and indirecty dependent

on school incomes it is advisable and necessary that the cumbersome and

time-consuming procedures fixed under. Republic Act No. 6139 for

increasing tuition fees be simplified without opening the floodgates to

abuse of the right to increase tuition and other school fees.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the

Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by the Constitution do

hereby decree and order the following as part of the law of the land:

Section 1 Authority of the Secretary of Education and Culture.

SECTION 1. Authority of the Secretary of Education and

Culture.—Within the limits and under the circumstances set forth in

this Decree, the Secretary of Education and Culture shall have the

authority to regulate the imposition of tuition and other school fees or

charges by any and all private schools as denned under Act Numbered Two

Thousand Seven Hundred and Six, as amended. No changes in the rates of

tuition or other school fees or charges shall be effective without the

prior approval of the Secretary of Education and Culture. New school

fees or charges to be imposed by new or existing schools, whether for

new courses or other matters, shall be at such reasonable rates as may

be determined by the Secretary of Education and Culture based on the

standard of such school.

Section 2 Application and Document Required.

SEC. 2. Application and Document Required.—Any

private school which desires to revise its rates of tuition or other

school fees or charges or to impose other fees or charges shall file

application therefor with the Secretary of Education and Culture. The

application shall include:

Statement of the itemized current rates of tuition and other

charges and the corresponding itemized proposed changes thereon, as well

as the new fees or charges proposed to be imposed, and of the proposed

allocation of the incremental proceeds in accordance with Section 3 (a)

hereof. Such statements shall, when accomplished be under oath by the

proper official(s) of the school concerned;

Financial statement showing the financial status of

school duly certified by a certified public accountant;

A copy of the last tax return, where required, filed with the

Bureau of Internal Revenue.

Section 3 Limitations.

SEC. 3. Limitations.—The increase in tuition or

other school fees or other charges as well as the new fees or charges

authorized under the next preceding section shall be subject to the

following conditions:

That no increase in tuition or other school fees or charges

shall be approved unless sixty (60%) per centum of the proceeds is

allocated for increase in salaries or wages of the members of the

faculty and all other employees of the school concerned, and the balance

for institutional development, student assistance and extension

services, and return to investments: Provided, That in no case

shall the return to investments exceed twelve (12%) per centum of the

incremental proceeds; and

That any such increase shall in no case exceed fifteen (15%)

per centum of the rates charged during the next preceding school year.

Section 4 Rules and Regulations.

SEC. 4. Rules and Regulations.—The Secretary of

Education and Culture is hereby authorized, empowered and directed to

issue the requisite rules and regulations for the effective

implementation of this Decree. He may, in addition to the requirements

and limitations provided for under Sections 2 and 3 hereof, impose other

requirements and limitations as he may deem proper and reasonable.

Section 5 Prohibitions.

SEC. 5. Prohibitions.—No school administration or

office or division thereof shall hold or sponsor any benefit

performance, movies, concerts, dramatic presentation, games and/or shows

of whatever kind or nature whether for charity or otherwise. Any such

act on the part of the school administration or office or division

thereof shall be considered a circumvention of this law and shall be

sufficient cause for the cancellation of the approval of any previous

increase in tuition or other school fees and shall subject the school

official concerned to such disciplinary action as the Secretary of

Education and Culture may deem proper including the revocation on any

degree conferred by authority of the Government.

Section 6 Review of Financial Statements.

SEC. 6. Review of Financial Statements.—Financial

statements submitted in accordance with the provisions of Section 2

hereof may be reviewed by the Commission on Audit at the instance of the

Secretary of Education and Culture whenever he believes that the same

is necessary for verification purposes. For this purpose, the Commission

on Audit is authorized to examine the pertinent books and records of

the school concerned.

Section 7 Additional Scholarships.

SEC. 7. Additional Scholarships.—As a further

condition to any grant of increase in tuition or other school fees,

private schools with a total enrolment of at least one thousand, are

hereby required to private free scholarships to poor but deserving

students at the ratio of one (1) free scholarship for every five hundred

(500) pupils/students enrolled: Provided, That this requirement

shall be exclusive of the present practice of private schools offering

scholarship privileges to valedictorians and salutatorians and other

pupils/students who have achieved scholastic distinctions. Neither shall

other forms of scholarships such as those offered to athletes and

working students be included in arriving at the proper number of poor

but deserving pupils/ students to be given free scholarships.

Section 8 Penal Clause.

SEC. 8. Penal Clause.—Any violation of the

provisions of this Decree or of the rules or regulations promulgated

pursuant thereto or any final decision made by the Secretary of

Education and Culture shall be punishable by a fine of five thousand

(P5,000.00) pesos or imprisonment of two years or both at the discretion

of the court which penalty shall be imposed on the official(s) of the

private school or on any person acting for and in behalf of the school

directly responsible for the violation. If the violator is a public

official the same penalty shall be imposed without prejudice to any

administrative action which may be taken against him.

Section 9 Repealing Clause.

SEC. 9. Repealing Clause.—Republic Act No. 6139

is hereby repealed, and all laws, decrees, executive orders, directives

and rules and regulations inconsistent herewith are likewise repealed,

amended or modified accordingly.

Section 10 Effectivity.

SEC. 10. Effectivity.—This Decree shall take

effect immediately.

Done in the City of Manila, this 11th day of May, in the year

of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and seventy-four.

(Sgd.) FERDINAND E.

MARCOS

President of the Philippines

By the President:

(Sgd.) ALEJANDRO

MELCHOR

Executive Secretary