THE Davao Association of Catholic Schools (Dacs) Board of Trustees (BOT) will not be collecting Dacs fees from its 71 member schools in Davao Region for this school year as holding of sports activities is prohibited in the quarantine protocols being enforced by the national and local governments due to the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic.

Dacs executive director Jimmie-Loe P. Dela Vega bared this in a phone interview with SunStar Davao Wednesday, May 27.

He said, “With ECQ guidelines, walay sports activities this year. Ang Board nag-decide nga dili lang usa mangolekt karong tuiga (There will be no sports activities this year based on ECQ guidelines. The Board decided not to collect Dacs fees this year).”

Sports, he said, is only secondary to the enrollment concerns of the parents and their apprehension to send their children back to schools due to the Covid-19 threat.

He said schools, too, are still encountering challenges on how to go about the shift to online classes from the usual face-to-face classes.

“No collection usa (No collection of Dacs fees). That’s an added collection when everyone is concerned with the cost of tuition and fees. If there are items that can be removed from the cost, it would be a little help for the parents,” he said.

From the past 10 years, Grade 4 to college students of Dacs member schools each pay P30 Dacs fee. It would have increased this school year to P40 per student but it has to be shelved due to the current crisis.

Dela Vega said the Dacs fee funds the staging of the Dacs Sportsfest (city meet), Dacs regional sportsfest and the Catholic Educational Association of the Philippines (Ceap) Mindanao Meet.

“When circumstances are favorable, we (Dacs Board) might take it up again and relaunch Dacs,” he added.