Senior High School’s Voucher Program

5/16/2018
Metro Manila, Philippines
8:00 AM

The voucher program is a government’s program offered to a junior high school completers or JHS completers to allow them to pursue Senior High School or SHS (Grade 11 and 12) education in non-DepEd Schools such as Private High Schools, Colleges, and Universities; Local Universities and Colleges (LUC); State Universities and Colleges (SUCS); and Technical and Vocational Schools. Through the Voucher Program, students and their families are able to exercise greater choice in deciding the Senior High School  program which  is most relevant track for their career goals with a lot of choices to enroll in the school that they want to pursue SHS. JHS completers from public junior high schools are qualified to receive the funding aid. Meanwhile, JHS completers from private schools must apply for 80 percent of the voucher’s full value only.

The voucher enables students to claim a “discount” or a deduction from the cost of tuition and other fees charged by a non-DepEd SHS where he or she will enroll. The voucher subsidy is not given to students directly in the form of cash but will be disbursed by DepEd to the non-DepEd SHS where he or she enrolls. the voucher program will help students and parents who were  affected by the recent shift to the new curriculum or students who will continue beyond grade 10.

The SHS voucher amount is aligned to the cost of public provision or how much it would cost the government to support the schooling of a public SHS student. This means that whether a student decides to enroll in a public/DepEd SHS, the government’s investment in his or her education is the same.

The value of the voucher varies depending on the SHS’ location where the student will enroll.

•          PHP22,500 – 16 cities and one municipality in the national capital region (NCR)
•          PHP20,000 – Urbanized cities outside NCR
•          PHP 17,500 – Other cities and towns in the Philippines

The above sums are for students that come from a public high school and will enroll in a private (DepEd approved). Non-DepEd schools and will enroll in a private schools may charge tuition fee that is higher than the voucher subsidy rate.

The SHS voucher amount is aligned to the cost of public provision or how much it would cost of public government to support the schooling of a public SHS student. This means that whether a student decides to enroll in a public/DepEd SHS or a non-DepEd SHS, the government’s investment in his or her education is the same. The voucher amount varies for a Grade 10 completer in a public JHS (100% voucher value) and from a private JHS (80% voucher value), since students in private schools are paying students and have some capacity to pay. The voucher amounts also vary based on location of the SHS taking into consideration the different cost of education in the locality. Despite the differences in amounts of the voucher tiers, the average voucher subsidy is PHP18,300 per student, which is aligned with the cost of public provision. Students coming from private high schools will get a specific percentage (80 percent). Students who intend to enroll in a public college or university will get half of the full subsidy.           

The government will not give the subsidy to grade 10 completers themselves but will instead remit it straight to the senior high school where students will enroll.

“The funding for the implementation of the K-12 program has been highly criticized in the past for its emphasis on subsidizing private schools,” Elago said. “The manner in which the budget for the senior high school voucher program is designed confirms these observations.” She added: “In a way, we can consider this allotment for private senior high schools as ‘sure profits’ for them, again confirming fears that DepEd might have actually designed the full implementation of the K-12 Program in a manner that will guarantee greater profit for school owners. This is one of the reasons why we continue to call for the junking of the K-12 program.”

The Department of Education (DepEd) maintained that the Senior High School (SHS) Voucher Program will remain to provide financial assistance for qualified Grade 10 completers who wish to enroll in non-DepEd SHS amid reports claiming that the voucher program.

One of the student in the first batch of senior high school graduated this school year 2017-2018 shared her thoughts about the assistance given by the voucher program

           

           For those studying or sending someone to school under the K-12 program but lack enough funds, you will find the most relevant details on government financial aid. Be knowledgeable and learn to claim this for you to help you in entering your senior high school year.