This was announced yesterday by AdZU President Fr Karel San Juan, SJ. In his
memo to the community, Fr President congratulated and thanked the JHS community
led Fr Stephen T Abuan SJ, former principal and now Vice President for
Basic Education, and Fr Arnel T Ong SJ, current principal, together with lay
partners, administrators, faculty and staff, “for the hard work and dedication
in the service of our mission, for God’s greater glory.” The three-year Level
III Accreditation status is valid until December 2020.
The JHS now joins the Grade School and College
units of the University in the roster of schools, colleges and universities
(SUCs) with Level III Accreditation.
What does it mean to be conferred with Level
III Accreditation by the Philippine Accrediting Association of Schools,
Colleges and Universities (PAASCU)? What is its implication on the operations
of the schools?
First, Level III Accredited SUCs are accorded
with Levels I and II accreditation benefits which include, among others:
– full administrative deregulation
– financial deregulation in setting tuition and school fees
– authority to revise the curriculum without CHED approval
– authority to graduate students from accredited courses or programs of study
in the levels accredited without prior approval of the CHED, and
– priority in the awards of grants/subsidies or funding assistance from
CHED-Higher Education Development Fund (HEDF).
Second, in addition to the benefits that go with Level I and Level II
accreditation, SUCs with Level III accreditation are granted the authority to
offer new courses allied to existing Level III courses without need for prior
approval, provided that CHED-IX is informed. Level III SCUs also enjoy the
privilege to apply for authority to offer new graduate programs, open
learning/distance education, extension classes and to participate in
transnational education.
The Philippine Accrediting Association of Schools, Colleges and Universities
(PAASCU) is a private, voluntary, non-profit and non- stock service
organization that accredits academic programs according to standards of quality
education. It is governed by a 15-member Board of Directors that, among other
duties, review the reports of the survey teams of accreditors from all over the
country that visit the institutions applying for accreditation.
Accreditation is “a concept based on self-regulation which focuses on
evaluation and the continuing improvement of educational quality.” In the
accreditation process, institutions or programs upgrade the quality of their
education and services by subjecting themselves to self-evaluation and peer
judgment by a survey team of accreditors. At the end of the accreditation, a
status is granted to an educational institution or program signifying that
commonly accepted standards of quality or excellence have been met.
PAASCU accreditation is one of its kind in the country. While educational
institutions in the country are required to go through accreditation by the
government, PAASCU accreditation levels up the process with SCUs voluntarily
submitting to accreditation “to attain standards above those prescribed as
minimum requirements by the government.”
