He National Institute for the Defense of Competition and the Protection of Intellectual Property (Indecopi) described as illegal the bureaucratic barrier of paragraph 48.5 of article 48 of the Regulation of Private Educational Institutions of Basic Education, which specifically refers to the obligation to calculate the re-entry fee required by private schools for those students who wish to return to an institution and He returned their first entry fee.
This article is part of Law No. 26549, Law of Private Educational Centers, approved in Supreme Decree 005-2021-MINEDU. According to this rule, the payment must be made in proportion to the levels or cycles that the student will remain in the institution and not based on the age or grade to which they belong; However, Indecopi proposes a fairer way for parents.
How should the re-entry fee be charged, according to Indecopi?
Indecopi indicated in its resolution No. 0101-2024, published this February 13 in the Peruano, that the re-entry fee “should only be made in proportion to the levels or cycles of the student’s permanence in the educational institution.”
“In effect, calculating the charge proportionally to the grade or age of study pending or pending completion, as established in the Regulation of Private Educational Institutions of Basic Education, implies dividing the fee into a total of 13 grades (two grades in initial education, six grades in primary education and five grades in secondary education); which differs from the calculation of the charge that must be made proportionally to the levels or cycles of study pending or pending completion, in accordance with Law 26549, which involves dividing the fee into three levels (initial education, primary education and secondary education) or seven cycles (two cycles in initial education, three cycles in primary education and two cycles in secondary education)”, the institution emphasized.
Indecopi had previously pointed out this shortcoming in Resolution 0742-2023/CEB of May 26, 2023. With the declaration of illegality of this bureaucratic barrier, introduced by the Ministry of Education, educational institutions are expected to modify their collection policies so that they are in line with the principles established in the Law of Private Educational Centers.
How to request a refund of the school entrance fee?
The Directorate of the National Protection Authority of Indecopi indicated that the only mandatory charges in private schools are the entrance fee, registration and monthly payment.
Of these three, only the first is refundable, except if there is an outstanding debt, which can be deducted from the amount to be reimbursed for the entrance fee.
It is important to note that refusal to return this amount is considered an offense that can result in a fine for the institution of up to 450 UIT, which is equivalent to more than 2,300,000 soles.
The only necessary step is to request a refund from the school director. Although it is the school’s decision to determine when the entrance fee should be returned, if it is greater than one UIT, the period should not exceed six months from when the school and the parent reached an agreement.
Source: Larepublica
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