Voucher program needs P45 B, ex-DepEd head says

MANILA, Philippines – A former head of the Department of Education (DepEd) urged Education Secretary Leonor Briones yesterday to increase the subsidy to senior high school students enrolling in private schools.

Mona Valisno, who was DepEd secretary during the Arroyo administration, said the subsidy should be raised from P22,500 to P30,000 to allow more students to go to private schools.

This was one of the recommendations made by Valisno in her book titled, “The Nation’s Journey to Greatness: Looking Beyond Five Decades of Philippine Education,” which was published in 2012.

Valisno said the government should allocate P45 billion to fund the voucher program.

“It should be increased to allow more students to enrol in private schools,” Valisno told The STAR.

She said she is willing to work with Briones to further improve the country’s basic education system.

Valisno served in the education sector for nearly half a century under five presidents.

She was also former commissioner of the Commission on Higher Education and presidential assistant for education.

This school year the DepEd has allocated P12 billion for the voucher system, which subsidizes tuition and other fees in private schools.

Former education secretary Armin Luistro said 300,000 public Grade 10 completers and former education service contracting grantees were automatic recipients of vouchers, which amounts to as much as P22,500 per student.

Another 75,000 were admitted to the program following the application period earlier this year.

From over 1.4 million students who completed Grade 10 in March, the DepEd expected more than one million to enroll in over 11,000 public and private senior high schools, resulting in a possible dropout rate of 200,000 to 400,000.

Students who initially intended to enrol in private schools reportedly ended up in public schools last month as their parents have to shell out money if they are enrolled in a private school. 

Briones stressed the need to increase the budget in education, noting the need to strengthen alternative learning modules for those outside the system.