1,000 students to benefit from education voucher system

A total of 100,000 public elementary school graduates, out-of-school youth (OSY), and passers from the Philippine Educational Placement Test (PEPT) and the Alternative Learning Systems Accreditation and Equivalency (ALS A&E) shall have the chance to pursue secondary education in government-recognized private high schools under the Education Voucher System (EVS) of the Department of Education. This program will be implemented nationwide this June.

Undersecretary for Regional Operations Ramon Bacani said in DepED Orders No. 14 and 16, s. 2006, 100,000 voucher certificates will be distributed to 4,000 public elementary schools in the country. Each school shall be given 22 voucher grants. The principals will select the beneficiaries.

Bacani said the EVS aims to provide and maintain a system of financial assistance for underprivileged elementary school graduates, PEPT and ALS A&E qualifiers, and outof-school youth who wish to pursue high school education in a private school and to help alleviate the problem of excess enrolment in public schools, thereby contributing to the improvement of the quality of secondary education.

Under the EVS program, each beneficiary shall have an annual aid of P4,000 to cover tuition and other school fees in the private school of choice until he or she graduates. However, Bacani stressed that the beneficiaries shall only be entitled to receive the succeeding voucher certificates when they are promoted to the next year level.

He said the beneficiary should be a public elementary school graduate belonging to the top 50 percent of the graduating class or has completed the requirements of elementary education based on DepED administered tests such as PEPT and ALS A&E, and must come from a family with a total yearly income of not more than the poverty level.

DepED has given the beneficiaries until June 30 to find a high school that will accept them as EVS grantees. http://www.deped.gov.ph/e_posts.asp?id=458

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BACS Position Paper NO to the Implementation of the Educational Voucher System: Retain the Education Service Contracting Scheme

The Educational Voucher System (EVS) must not supersede the implementation of Education Service Contracting Scheme (ESC) for the following reasons: 1. Legal Implications of EVS Adoption

ESC is a major program enacted by RA 6728 otherwise known as GASTPE Act and as amended by RA 8545. It institutionalizes the governments support to private schools in recognition of the latters invaluable contribution to educational system and national development. ESCs implementation is sanctioned and protected by a ratified law, which has been, for the past 20 years of implementation, considered as a milestone in the reform of educational policies. As such, it cannot simply be overshadowed by a presidential directive without amending the GASTPE Act. The adoption of EVS to replace ESC and diverting the funds from the latter to support the implementation of EVS are therefore without legal warrant.

2.

Vulnerability of EVS System

ESC, successfully operated for the past 20 years, has established efficient and effective administrative measures of execution . The voucher system on the other hand is unprotected from abuse and misuse to serve the interest of crooked politicians this coming May election. 3. EVS Terms Ultimately Results to Inaccessibility

EVS stipulates policies that may preclude many private education institutions from actively participating. These, among others, include a) participating private schools accept the P6,000 grant as FULL payment of tuition and other fees; and, b) participating private schools are expected to provide uniforms, books, and tutorial services for the grantees. These terms are crippling rather than promotive of the general basic education. Private schools as self-sustaining organizations rely heavily on tuition and fees to generate income. Even with the constraint in resources that impedes us from meeting demands for educational improvement, we at the private education sector have responded to equity issues by

pursuing our commitment to the support of scholarships for the poor but deserving students with the use of our own funds. As it is, we are already faced with insurmountable concerns amidst low enrollment turnout, restrictive policies on tuition and fee increases, and high operating cost. EVS claims to support private education but in truth, it is the government's relinquishment for the same, pushing the responsibility into the private sector. If the government truly recognizes the role of private schools in fulfilling its educational responsibility to the poor, it must create an environment conducive to its advancement. The EVS goal to increase equity and access to education will instead result adversely in the displacement of students due to non-participation, or even worse, closure of private schools. We, at Bicol Association of Catholic Schools , actively support the retention of Education Service Contracting Scheme (ESC). We urge the Department of Education to look into the merit of the above contentions and abandon plans for the adoption of EVS. http://www.adnu.edu.ph/NewsAndEvents/031207BACS.asp ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++