DepEd to hike subsidy for HS studes

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Education (DepEd) will increase the Education Service Contracting (ESC) subsidy given to selected incoming first year high school students under K+12 in private schools outside Metro Manila from P5,500 to P6,500 starting this school year.

DepEd said, however, that the ESC grants in other year levels in non-NCR regions would still remain at P5,500 a year.

Parents shoulder the balance in excess of the P6,500 subsidy.

Because of higher tuition fees charged by private secondary schools in Metro Manila, the subsidy per student in the NCR is P10,000 per annum.

The ESC is a part of the Government Assistance to Students and Teachers in Private Education (GASTPE) program of DepEd, which provides financial assistance to students to help them stay in school and keep them from transferring to public schools where the tuition is fully subsidized by the government.

DepEd admits that the program was a strategy to keep students in private schools since they cannot be accommodated anymore in public schools due to the excess of enrolled students.

Education Secretary Armin Luistro said GASTPE benefits both public and private schools while making education accessible to as many learners as possible.

“To decongest public schools and make learning more conducive, we offer ESC to private schools as a way also to help increase their enrolment. We likewise offer subsidy to teachers of private high schools who participate in the program,” he added.

DepEd is set to expand the coverage of ESC after the Education Voucher System is phased out by school year 2014-2015 or as soon as the last batch of present beneficiaries graduates.

Figures from last school year showed that the total government subsidy under both schemes amount to over P4.2 billion.

Luistro said that to date, there are a total of 637,794 ESC grantees while EVS has 59,914 for a total of 697,708 beneficiaries enrolled in 2,580 participating schools nationwide.