DepEd reminds conditional voucher applicants to submit documents by the end of this month

by Merlina Hernando-Malipot, Manila Bulletin, 14 Nov 2020

The Department of Education (DepEd) is reminding conditional Qualified Voucher Applicants (QVAs) of the Senior High School Voucher Program (SHSVP) to submit the necessary and other supporting documents on or before Nov. 30.

DepEd, in DepEd Order No. 34, Series of 2020, officially announced the extension of the deadline for the submission of supporting documents by conditional QVAs for SHS students for School Year (SY) 2020-2021.

“Due to the foreseen difficulty in securing documents as a result of the implementation measures for the management of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Department allowed the processing of application with no/incomplete supporting documents subject to submission of the said documents at a later date,” DepEd said.

However, DepEd said that it “continues to receive reports of Conditional QVAs experiencing challenges in securing and submitting their supporting documents.” Thus, the deadline was extended for another month from Oct. 30 to Nov. 30.

“A voucher applicant who qualified but whose application is incomplete due to pending submission of supporting documents was subsequently referred to as Conditional QVAs,” DepEd said.

The DepEd opened the application for the SHSVP for SY 2020-2021 from June 29 to July 24 and the results were announced in August.

DepEd said that there were 61,919 applications submitted for this SY. After the screening, there were 14,006 QVAs and 30,209 conditional QVAs. There were also 2,819 who were not eligible to apply because they were automatically qualified.

SHS students who are conditional QVA, DepEd said, may still enroll in private schools this school year since they are only “required to submit to the selected private school the Conditional QVA Certificate that can be downloaded on the Online Voucher Application Portal (OVAP) student account.” However, DepEd reminded the conditional QVAs that “any incomplete submission will mean displacement from SHSVP.”

The SHSVP is an annual program of the DepEd which provides financial assistance to qualified Grade 10 completers who want to pursue their desired SHS education in private schools, state universities and colleges, and local universities and colleges.

The Qualified SHSVP recipients will receive voucher amounts depending on the category — P22,500; P18,000; and P11, 500 in the National Capital Region (NCR). In non-NCR highly urbanized cities (HUCs), vouchers amount to P20,000; P16,000; and P10,000. In other locations, vouchers amount to P17,500; P14,000; and P8,750.

As of Nov. 3, DepEd national enrollment data showed that there are 2, 890, 273 SHS or Grades 11 and 12 students currently enrolled in both public and private schools nationwide for this SY 2020-2021.