Govt increases tuition subsidy to 7th graders

THE subsidy to incoming Grade 7 students enrolling in private high schools outside Metro Manila has been increased to P6,500 from P5,500, the Education Department said Wednesday.

This subsidy under the government’s Education Service Contracting program lowers students’ tuitions in private high schools to help ease the excess enrollment in public high schools.

The department says the ESC grantees in other levels outside Metro Manila will still receive P5,500, while the subsidy per student in Metro Manila is P10,000 a year due to the higher matriculation fees there. The parents will shoulder the balance in excess of the subsidy.

“[The subsidy] is geared toward reducing the class size to manageable levels in high schools, especially those experiencing shortage of classrooms and teachers,” Education Secretary Armin Luistro said.

“We offer [the subsidy] to private schools as a way also to help increase their enrollment. We likewise offer subsidy to the teachers of private high schools who participate in the program.”

Another version of the subsidy is the Education Voucher System, which is issued in the name of the student-beneficiary. The subsidy is paid directly to the school.

The government paid over P4.2 billion in subsidies and vouchers in school year 2011-2012, Luistro said.

The Education Department will expand the coverage of its subsidies once the voucher system is phased out by school year 2014-2015, or as soon as the last batch of beneficiaries graduates.

There are 697,708 beneficiaries—637,794 who are subsidized and 59,914 who are provided with vouchers—enrolled in the 2,580 participating schools nationwide. –Gigi Munoz-David, Manila Standard Today