Affordable Private Education Center Schools is merging with National Teachers College, a move that aims to create a new education powerhouse.
Ayala Corp. and iPeople Inc. said in separate disclosures to the stock exchange Monday the boards of directors of NTC and APEC approved the proposed merger, with NTC as the surviving entity.
“The planned merger will result in the creation of an education powerhouse of over 24,000 students in K-12, college and graduate school,”iPeople said.
Both schools are 100 percent-owned by iPeople, which in turn is 51-percent owned by Yuchengco’s House of Investments and 33-percent by Ayala Corp.
One of the leading education groups in the country, iPeople has about 60,000 students in seven schools, including Mapúa University and University of Nueva Caceres.
The planned merger is still subject to regulatory approvals from the Commission on Higher Education, the Department of Education and the Securities and Exchange Commission.
“The planned merger will allow us to better achieve our goal of transforming lives through innovative education at affordable prices. Our high school students will benefit from the combination of NTC’s national reputation and 94-year track record of excellence in teaching, with APEC’s progressive teaching methods and focus on being educators of the digital future,” said Fred Ayala, chairman of both NTC and APEC.
Founded in 1928, NTC was the Philippines’ first higher education institution to offer collegiate programs dedicated to teacher education. It is a leader in the field of teacher education and its performance in the Licensure Examination for Teachers has consistently been above the national passing rate.
APEC Schools was established in 2013 with the vision of providing quality private education affordable for Filipino high school students and has since scaled up to become the largest chain of private stand-alone high schools in the country.
APEC was one of the first high schools to offer a technology-enabled educational curriculum and delivery. It offers innovative learning at very accessible prices across 17 campuses in Metro Manila, Rizal, Cavite and Batangas
It registered a 67-percent growth in new enrollees in school year 2022-2023 from the prior year.