STI Holdings reported a turnaround with a net income of P56 million in the first half of fiscal year (FY) 2021-22, or the six-month period ended December 31, 2021, from the P113.9 million net loss for the same period in the previous year.

The firm’s FY starts on July 1 of every calendar year (CY) and ends on June 30 of the following CY. Being in the business of education, the Group’s FY follows that of its school year (SY).

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, STI said its Earnings Before Interest, Tax, Depreciation, and Amortization (EBITDA) grew by 37 percent to P419.1 million in the first half of the FY 2022 from P305.6 million for the same period in the previous year.

The group’s improved performance comes on the back of an 18 percent increase in its overall enrollment to 82,629 students for SY 2021-2022 from 70,223 in SY 2020-2021.

The total figure was boosted by the robust 40 percent surge in tertiary enrollment to 56,342 students from 40,176 in the previous SY.

“The increase in our enrollment and in the number of COVID-19 vaccinations throughout the country are signs that the ‘new normal’ may be just in our midst,” said STI Holdings President and CEO Monico V. Jacob.

STI Holdings was able to increase its enrollment even as classes are still being fully conducted online at the start of the current SY with the Philippines and the rest of the world adjusting to the “new normal” way of life.

Along with the additional enrollment, STI Holdings’ component schools provided support to enable its students to participate in their respective classes.

“These technological enhancements are our ways of strengthening our commitment to help our students, faculty, and staff not just survive, but thrive in the days to come,” said Jacob.

STI Education Services Group (STI ESG), the largest of STI Holdings’ three schools, partnered with the country’s major telecommunications providers for the provision of monthly data plans and loads of up to 34 gigabytes.

Through this, students are able to access their electronic Learning Management System (eLMS), Microsoft Office 365 accounts, One STI Student Portal app, and other collaborative online learning tools anytime.

STI ESG has been employing the blended learning model for its students for the past six years, which allowed its network of schools to transition seamlessly to fully remote mode of learning when the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020.

Bacolod City-based STI WNU, meanwhile, subscribed to GTI Software Developer’s SchoolAutomate system. It is an online school management software used to assign teaching loads, schedule classes, and maintain students’ accounts and academic records, among other functions.

Also, iACADEMY upgraded its subscription to Adobe Creative Cloud-All Apps to accommodate the increase in the number of its enrollees for the SY. Adobe Creative Cloud is a collection of over 20 desktop and mobile applications and services for photography, design, video, web, User Experience (UX) design, and more.

Online classes are being conducted under the ONline and ONsite Education at STI (ONE STI) Learning Model for STI ESG and STI WNU, and the Guided Online Autonomous Learning (GOAL) program for iACADEMY.