Financial Practices of Private Schools in Nueva Ecija during Covid-19 Pandemic

Abstract

This study identified the financial practices, challenges and level compliance of selected private schools in Nueva Ecija during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Ten school treasurers from different private high schools in Nueva Ecija were purposively selected as the respondents of the study. The results revealed that while all schools were compliant to the minimum Certification Assessment Instrument (CAI) standards in the area of school budget and finances set by the Private Education Assistance Committee (PEAC) it did not exempt these schools to different financial challenges brought by COVID-19. The data gathered also determined that decrease in student enrollment, difficulty in collecting student financial obligation and decrease in revenue generated inside the school from canteen operation were the top financial challenges encountered by these schools that were mainly attributed to the distance learning modality employed by the private schools due to school lockdowns. Majority of these schools have employed common financial practices in increasing student’s enrollment through increasing the budget on marketing strategy, waiving all school fees to senior high school students coming from public schools and expanding kindergarten subsidy slots and in strategies on intensifying collection of student financial liability by way of orientation on parents/guardians on payment culture, intensifying communication mechanism on collection, account cards available on demand and availability e- payments while continuously improving the overall areas of school operation to perpetually participate as Educational Service Contracting (ESC) schools.