Public Law Alert – May 2020

Legislative Decree 1476: new obligations for private schools are established

Legislative Decree No. 1476 (hereinafter referred to as the Legislative Decree) was published on May 05 2020, through which – as expressly established – the aim would be to guarantee the transparency of information in the provision of services provided by private educational institutions (hereinafter referred to as Schools), to enable users of said services to make an appropriate and timely decision on such services.

The obligations laid down in the aforementioned Legislative Decree shall be supervised by the Local Educational Management Units (UGEL), within the framework of their powers. This is without prejudice to the powers of INDECOPI to sanction infringements of consumer protection regulations.

In this regard, it is established that within a period of no more than 7 calendar days from the day after its publication (they expire on May 12), the Schools must comply with the following information:

• The cost of each of the benefits included in the payment of tuition and pensions disaggregating those concepts that can be provided in person and those that cannot. The cost details must include the corresponding justification.
• The existence or not of a proposal to amend the contract or document detailing the conditions for the provision of the educational service.

In relation to the second obligation (amendment of the contract), if the parents do not agree with the proposal made, they may choose the following alternatives:

a) To terminate the contract, in which case, the Schools must return (within a maximum period of 30 calendar days, unless otherwise agreed) the entrance fee, tuition and pensions canceled in proportion to the student’s stay.

b) Subject to the new conditions raised by the institution. Notwithstanding the fact that, if it is considered, the corresponding instances are consulted in order to evaluate the contractual conditions applied by the College. In addition to the above obligations, it is also noted that the Schools are prohibited from performing the following:

• Collect for benefits that are no longer provided.
• Collect for new concepts that are not linked to the provision of the non-classroom educational service.
• Force parents to waive their right to be reimbursed for tuition, tuition and pensions.
• Condition the access to the educational service or the evaluation of the students to the payment of the pension or any other payment.
• Failure to provide the necessary facilities for the transfer of students to another School, if applicable.

Finally, it is important to note that the Executive Branch must approve the corresponding regulation within a period of no more than 15 working days. Beyond the description of the obligations indicated in the regulation, we understand that several of its provisions could be questioned as unconstitutional. We are at your disposal to analyze in more detail the content of the aforementioned provision.