DepEd: Public schools prepared to absorb 17K SHS students from SUCs 

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Education said that public schools can accommodate the thousands of senior high school (SHS) students set to be displaced next year by the discontinuation of the SHS program in state universities and colleges (SUCs). 

This comes as lawmakers have expressed concerns over how the DepEd and the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) will go about cramming more SHS students in crowded public schools and the apparent absence of consultations with parents and students before the dissolution of SHS programs in SUCs.

With over 17,000 Grade 11 students currently enrolled in SUCs, DepEd projects that certain school divisions will have to accommodate an average of 250 new SHS students next school year, DepEd Assistant Secretary Francis Bringas told GMA’s Unang Balita on Thursday.

“Yes, we can handle it. We’ve talked to the regional offices and schools division offices where we have enrollees in local universities,” Bringas said.

“Out of the 17,700, an average of 250 learners per division will have to be accommodated by division offices,” the DepEd official added.

In a December 2023 memorandum, CHED directed all SUCs to discontinue their SHS programs in compliance with an earlier agreement with DepEd that they could only offer Grades 11 and 12 from 2016 to 2021 — or during the transition period of the K to 12 program.

The same memorandum discontinued the provision of SHS voucher subsidies to students in SUCs and capped the enrollment of laboratory schools from 1,000 students during the K to 12 transition period to 750 once the transition period ends. 

Options for displaced 17K

Under the Senior High School Voucher Program, eligible students receive vouchers that can be used to partially or fully cover the cost of tuition and other fees in participating private schools and SUCs. Schools that admit voucher recipients receive payments from the government for the education services provided to these students.

SUCs were allowed to offer SHS during the first five years of the K to 12 program to mitigate the drop in enrollment resulting from adding two extra years of high school. To cover the cost of accommodating SHS students and hiring teachers, DepEd had allowed SUCs to receive SHS voucher subsidies.  

By 2021, CHED said it had instructed the SUCs to slowly stop accepting new SHS students as there is no longer a legal basis for its funding.

On Wednesday, CHED Chairperson Popoy De Vera said he has left it up to SUCs to discuss their non-acceptance of senior high school students starting the next school year (SY 2024-2025).

Meanwhile, DepEd Undersecretary Michael Poa said that current Grade 11 students in SUCs can either transfer to public schools or enroll in private schools using the SHS voucher subsidies next year. 

But minority House lawmakers have warned that the discontinuation of SHS in SUCs — which comes with the discontinuation of the voucher subsidies given to students — will have an impact on public schools’ enrollment and teachers’ livelihood.

Consultations should have been conducted before the memorandum was issued by CHED, said Rep. France Castro (ACT Teachers).

“Students will lose their financial aid and be forced to attend crowded public high schools. Teachers’ jobs and teaching loads will be placed in limbo because of this,” Castro said in a mix of English and Filipino.

“With DepEd and CHED saying that this program was only meant to last five years, they should have prepared for it with consultations, and not just simply releasing a memorandum that will affect thousands,” the lawmaker added.

Rep. Raoul Manuel (Kabataan Partylist) said that DepEd and CHED should not have allowed the nearly 18,000 Grade 11 to enroll in SUCs this school year (SY 2023-2024) to avoid disrupting their studies with the dissolution of the SHS programs in SUCs.

“As a graduate of a high school program of an SUC, I empathize with the students, families and schools affected. I know how it feels to be in a program that is under the constant threat of being underfunded or, worse, defunded and closed,” Manuel added.

While strides have been made to increase the number of public schools offering SHS, a 2023 policy note by EDCOM 2 pointed out that the program remains flawed due to a lack of personnel and limited SHS track and strand options for students.

A PCIJ report in 2020 also found that vouchers tended to benefit students at or above socioeconomic class C as the subsidy does not equate to a full scholarship.