Soft loans sought for schools with senior high school program

MANILA, Philippines - The government was asked yesterday to provide soft or low-cost loans to schools offering the senior high school (SHS) program.

Members of the Federation of Associations of Private Schools and Administrators could not wait for the Department of Education (DepEd)’s subsidy for public school students enrolling in private schools since they have to build additional classrooms and purchase new facilities ahead of the implementation of the SHS program next year, according to FAPSA president Eleazardo Kasilag.

“The government shall give us a guaranty sort of treasury bill, which we can present to DBP (Development Bank of the Philippines) or Land Bank to collect in advance,” he said.

“After all, the guarantor is the government and our collateral are the DepEd vouchers.” 

Through a voucher system, the DepEd enables a student to enroll in senior high school in private educational institutions under a full or partial tuition subsidy.

However, the subsidy amounting to P22,500 would start to come only after a year, Kasilag said.

“How can we manage our operation if that would come after a year?” he asked.

“We have to pay our teachers; and there are at least nine teachers for each strand? There are those of us offering two or three of the four strands in academic track.” 

St. Nicholas School in Marikina, for example,  needs to repaint buildings, replace some worn-out fixtures and buy extra chairs, boards, and computers, Kasilag said.

“So many of our member schools have decided to give SHS another try considering the subsidy is very promising,” he said.

“So many FAPSA members have secured loans from banks for additional classrooms, purchased needed facilities as others are now undergoing major face-lifting.

“But once the banks start to collect and GASTPE fees are not paid in advance, that is a big problem.” 

Offering the SHS in private schools would help deal with the problem of classroom congestion in public schools, Kasilag said.

Of the estimated 1.6 million students entering senior high school next year, the public school system can only accommodate 800,000 to 1.1 million, DepEd said.

It expects the remaining 800,000 or so students to be absorbed in non-DepEd schools, including private education institutions charging high tuition.

Signed into law in 2013, the K to 12 – kindergarten plus grades 1-12 – program seeks to strengthen the 10-year basic education curriculum.

It requires a student to enroll in kindergarten, six years of elementary (Grades 1-6), four years of junior high school (Grades 7-10) and two years of senior high school (Grades 11-12).