Phinma Education expanding school network

Phinma president Meliton “Chito” Salazar Jr. -contributed photo

MANILA  -Conglomerate Phinma Corp. is expanding its education network in the Philippines and Indonesia after enrolments hit a record high in the postpandemic period.

Phinma Education operates nine schools in the Philippines and one in West Java, Indonesia.

Christopher Tan, the company’s Philippine country chief, said in a recent media briefing they were looking to expand their Metro Manila network with another two to five schools.

He said other potential targets were in Laguna and Cavite as well as Davao.

Raymundo Reyes, Phinma Education’s country head in Indonesia, said they were planning to increase their overseas footprint beyond Horizon Karawang, which is located about 70 kilometers east of Jakarta.

“We are looking to expand in Indonesia. The most immediate area for expansion would be Surabaya. We are looking at Jakarta and other places as well in West Java,” he said.

Phinma Education aims to have about 10 locations in Indonesia in the long-term, he added.

The Phinma Group entered the education sector in 2004 through the acquisition of Phinma Araullo University in Nueva Ecjia.

Its existing network includes Phinma Cagayan de Oro College, Phinma University of Pangasinan, Phinma University of Iloilo, Southwestern University Phinma in Cebu City, Phinma Saint Jude College in Manila, Phinma Republican College in Quezon City, Phinma Rizal College of Laguna, and Phinma Union College of Laguna.

It achieved a record number of enrollees for school year 2022-2023 with 124,501 students, an annual jump of more than  30 percent. Revenue during the period rose 19 percent to P4.5 billion.

“This year is a convergence of our model continuing to show promise, the growing need for the services we provide, and our business doing well in all aspects,” Phinma Group president and chief operating officer Meliton “Chito” Salazar Jr. said.

“We hope to be able to reach more and more underserved students who need quality education the most, so that they can uplift themselves, their families, and communities,” he added.

Salazar said the company’s growth was supported by their commitment to more affordable tuition fees, which are kept low by controlling costs.

He said education quality remains high despite efforts to keep tuition rates accessible. Phinma Education recorded an overall passing rate in licensure exams of 79 percent for first-time takers for the 2022-2023 school year.

It had a 98 percent board passing rate for nursing, followed by electrical engineering (98 percent), elementary education (92 percent), optometry (90 percent), dentistry (90 percent), pharmacy (89 percent), and mechanical engineering (85 percent).