ABU DHABI // The new Philippine ambassador has vowed to use “all tools of diplomacy” to help hundreds of parents who lost almost Dh2 million in school fees at the former 21st Century Private Academy.
“For us at the embassy, our role is to find a win-win solution here,” said Constancio Vingno Jr, who replaced former ambassador Grace Princesa last month.
“I will try my best to help them, rest assured, I will not leave them hanging. I feel for them. I’m a parent, too.”
Mr Vingno said the school’s operator had continued to send text messages encouraging parents to make early tuition and registration fee payments, despite the fact that the school was facing closure for breaching health and safety standards.
Three weeks before the start of the academic year, the Abu Dhabi Education Council revoked the operator’s licence, forcing 21st Century to close.
The school has since reopened under new management and a new name, the Philippine Global School, but parents said they had yet to be refunded payments made to the old school.
Mr Vingno said some parents “had no knowledge that something was amiss – no knowledge at all.
“Many parents paid in full, some the tuition fees, some the reservation fees so they paid, in other words, not knowing that the school would be eventually closed.”
He said he had met some of the parents and explained to them that the embassy’s role was necessarily limited.
Mr Vingno said he had officially asked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for assistance but providing legal help to the parents was not possible.
“We looked at the law but the case at hand does not fall within the mandate of the law,” he said. “There are instances, like a legal assistance fund for murder, where you have to provide a lawyer for the defence.
“This one does not fall under those. The most that we could do is conciliation and this is what we are doing.”
Families requiring an interpreter to help them to communicate with judicial officials could request one from the embassy, Mr Vingno said.
The ambassador said he also visited the Philippine Global School, which absorbed most of the pupils from the 21st Century Private Academy, and said the new operator had made significant improvements to ensure the children’s well-being.
“Some of my office mates are also sending their children to the school and they see a vast improvement,” Mr Vingno said.
He said the air conditioners had been improved and the assembly area had been covered.
“Now it’s a usable, friendly area, professionally done, so the parents recognised that improvements have been made.”
A S, who has an eight-year-old daughter, is owed about Dh3,000 from the former operator and was forced to repay nearly the same amount in registration, books, uniform and partial tuition at the Philippine Global School.
She said she hoped the matter could be resolved soon.
“Either they return the money to us directly or they return it to the new school and the new school will acknowledge that yes, your daughter is already fully paid,” she said. “As long as we don’t have to pay twice.”
rpennington@thenational.ae