Legislative Assembly | Penalties for unlicensed school operators unfair, according to lawmakers

Lawmakers and legal advisors at the Legislative Assembly (AL) have voiced the opinion that some interim measures proposed under the non-tertiary private education bill are unfair, especially for property owners.
Yesterday, the Second Standing Committee of the AL discussed the bill. Lawmakers mostly raised questions concerning the interim measures related to unlicensed educational activities and asset-transferring policies once a school is closed.
In the third chapter of the bill, it was proposed that when the local governmental authority discovers unlicensed school operations, the government can not only suspend and stop the activities but can also impose interim measures on the school campus.
However, lawmakers and legal advisors expressed doubt over the fairness of the interim measures for property owners. The concern was that in specific situations, the unlicensed operators do not own the properties in which the activities are being carried out. It may be possible that the organizers rented the properties. In such cases, imposing interim measures to suspend the relevant properties from engaging in further activities will be unfair for the actual property owners, according to Chan Chak Mo, chairman of the AL Second Standing Committee.
Chan said that when the government closes a property, such as one used by tenants as an illegal guesthouse, the owners need to go through a complicated procedure to have it reopened.
According to the bill, the government has suggested imposing a fine on private education institutions when they fail to fill vacancies on the school board within 30 days. The fine will range from MOP10,000 to MOP30,000. The latest change will reduce the maximum fine of 1.5 million patacas to a maximum of 1 million patacas.
The penalties for other violations have also been proposed to be reduced from MOP500,000 to between MOP10,000 and MOP100,000, depending on the type of violation.
Lawmakers continued asking the government for further explanation regarding an article that says a non-profitable school can only transfer its assets, both immovable and movable property, after the school is closed.
Lawmakers asked, when a school legally suspends operations, how the relevant school operators may transfer the remaining assets. “Regarding how to calculate the assets, this bill does not include any measures,” said Chan. JZ