DepEd extends voucher program for Grade 11 students

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Education (DepEd) has decided to extend the voucher program for Grade 11 learners enrolled in state universities and colleges (SUCs) and local universities and colleges (LUCs) under the senior high school (SHS) system, according to an education official.

During yesterday’s briefing of the House committee on basic education and culture, DepEd Undersecretary and spokesman Michael Poa noted that there are 17,751 Grade 11 students who are now “non-voucher recipients” as the subsidy program for SHS learners had already ended.

“When we checked the database without the voucher program, we expected that SUCs, LUCs will no longer be admitting the new Grade 11 entrants, because it was already announced that the voucher will no longer be extended,” Poa said.

The DepEd official, however, disclosed that Vice President Sara Duterte has directed the DepEd, which she also heads, to continue the voucher program for Grade 11 learners.

“We will also be extending the program for Grade 12 because they became recipients in the previous year. We want them to finish (SHS),” Poa said, although he clarified that the DepEd would be working with the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) to be able to implement this extension.

Last month, CHED Chairman J. Prospero de Vera III directed all SUCs and LUCs to stop offering SHS programs starting school year 2024-2025 because there was no more legal basis for it.

Under a memorandum from the Office of the CHED Chairperson, the authority of SUCs and LUCs to offer SHS programs had already lapsed after the transition period for the K-12 system from school years 2016-2017 to 2020-2021.

This means that the subsidy provided to affected students through the voucher program had also been stopped.