Government allots P12 B for senior high school subsidy

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Education (DepEd) has allotted P12 billion as subsidy for the incoming 1.5 million senior high school students from public schools who will be studying in private schools for the school year 2016-2017, Malacañang revealed yesterday.

Press Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said this would now be implemented on a nationwide scale in compliance with the K-12 program of the national government, which requires two additional years in high school before a student enrolls in college.

Coloma said Education Secretary Armin Luistro has called the government subsidy a “voucher system.”

“Around 90 percent of all Grade 11 enrollees in private schools, SUC and LUCs (state colleges and universities, local universities and colleges) will be voucher beneficiaries. Many senior high schools have announced they have no additional fees or top-up beyond the voucher amount,” Coloma said.

“Those who will enroll in the SHS (senior high school) program in public schools do not need to pay any fees,” he added.

The P12-billion subsidy translates to some P8,000 tuition each for every senior high school student enrolled in school year 2016-2017.   

The voucher program will allow students to choose any private school granted a permit by the DepEd to offer senior high school system if they decide not to go to a public SHS where no vouchers are required.

Coloma said the DepEd – through Undersecretary Reynaldo Laguda – gave assurance that all Grade 10 students would be enrolled in Grade 11 this year.

Under the DepEd setup, the value of the voucher varies depending on the location of the SHS where it will be used and the type of voucher recipient.

The full value of the voucher in the National Capital Region (NCR) is P22,500. In highly urbanized cities outside Metro Manila, the voucher is worth P20,000. In all other cities and municipalities, its value is P7,500.

Students who finished Grade 10 at public schools qualify for 100 percent of the voucher value. This means that if they prefer to go to any private SHS in NCR, they are entitled to a voucher amount of P22,500. 

Grade 10 completers from private schools will qualify for only 80 percent, or P18,000.

Grade 11 students who choose to enroll at SHS attached to SUCs or LUCs will qualify for only 50 percent of the voucher value.

For example, University of Makati will only be paid 50 percent of P22,500 when it enrolls a Grade 10 completer whether the student comes from either a public or private school.