The Department of Education (DepEd) on Thursday, July 15 assured the public that the implementation of the Senior High School Voucher Program (SHS VP) will continue in School Year (SY) 2021-2022.
“DepEd is committed to ensure the continued implementation of the SHS VP as well as its other programs of Government Assistance and Subsidies, to the extent that funding is made available to DepEd,” the agency said in a statement.
DepEd said that qualified learners who fall under the following categories “need not apply for the SHS VP since they are considered automatically qualified already.”
The following learners, DepEd said, are assured that “they can avail of their vouchers” for Grade 11 this upcoming school year: those who completed/will complete Grade 10 in SY 2020-2021 in DepEd public schools; those who completed/will complete Grade 10 in SY 2020-2021 in SUCs and LUCs; and those who completed/will complete Grade 10 in SY 2020-2021 in private schools who are Education Service Contracting (ESC) grantees.
DepEd said that it is also preparing to “open online voucher application” for incoming Grade 11 learners who passed the Alternative Learning System (ALS) Accreditation and Equivalency (A&E) Test for Junior High School level not earlier than 2016, ALS learners who passed the Portfolio Assessment, and learners who passed the Philippine Educational Placement Test (PEPT) for Grade 10, provided these learners had not previously enrolled for Grade 11.
“Voucher application for incoming Grade 11 learners who completed Grade 10 in private junior high schools, who are not grantees under the DepEd ESC Program will open upon the announcement of such opening by DepEd once DepEd receives additional funding from the Department of Budget and Management or upon the existence of other circumstances that may allow DepEd to accommodate more voucher program beneficiaries,” the agency explained.
DepEd said that it has been “closely coordinating with the concerned offices on its request for additional funds.” Meanwhile, detailed guidelines on the conduct of SHS Voucher Application for SY 2021-2022 shall be made available on the websites and other official platforms of DepEd and the Private Education Assistance Committee (PEAC).
Undersecretary for Finance Annalyn Sevilla, in a Viber message to reporters, said that there are 1,175,554 voucher program beneficiaries (VPBs) wherein 657,906 are Grade 11 and 517,648 are Grade 12 students.
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.