Expanding the Government Assistance to Students and Teachers in Private Education (GASTPE) program to cover Kindergarten through Grade 6 provides an immediate remedy to the chronic overcrowding that impairs the quality of education in public schools.

This solution is being pushed by the Private Education Assistance Committee (PEAC) to address the perennial problem of overcrowding in public schools nationwide.

PEAC serves as the trustee of the Fund for Assistance to Private Education (FAPE), a perpetual fund established to support private education across the country.

Absorb ‘aisle learners’

In a statement released Wednesday, Aug. 21, PEAC said that expanding the GASTPE program would readily address overcrowding in public schools by enabling private schools to absorb excess students, or “aisle learners.”

PEAC noted that GASTPE is currently limited to Junior High School (JHS) and Senior High School (SHS) or Grades 7 to 12.

PEAC member and concurrent Philippine Association of Colleges and Universities (PACU) President Bern Villamor explained that expanding GASTPE to the elementary level (K to 6) will “improve educational access, raise quality standards, and save government funds by utilizing the spare capacity of private schools.”

Villamor added that this would also “reduce the pressure” on the Department of Education (DepEd) to build new schools.

GASTPE programs, such as the Education Service Contracting, Teachers’ Salary Subsidy, Senior High School Voucher Program, and In-Service Training, are “pivotal in providing financial assistance to students and enhancing access to quality education,” according to Villamor.

Due to GASTPE’s success, PEAC noted that private schools have expressed their support for extending the program’s financial assistance to more deserving students who wish to pursue elementary education in private schools.

Help from the government

PEAC, a trustee of the Fund for Assistance to Private Education led by the Education Secretary as Chairperson, reported that as of School Year (SY) 2023-2024, it has already assisted more than 2.2 million student grantees.

However, PEAC also noted that more students in congested public schools are in “need of help from the government.”

A PEAC-commissioned study on “The Absorptive Capacity of Basic Education in the Philippines,” covering nearly 28 million learners in school years 2018-2022, revealed that public schools are “severely overcrowded”—especially at higher grade levels.

Moreover, PEAC urged the government to increase the amount of subsidies to GASTPE beneficiaries for JHS and SHS.

Villamor explained that current GASTPE subsidies “fail to cover the full fees private schools charge, which necessitates families of beneficiaries to pay top-ups”—particularly in urban areas.

“By reallocating and optimizing resources, we estimate that nearly 900,000 more learners could be accommodated across both public and private schools,” Villamor said.

Private school learning

Meanwhile, Villamor underscored the importance of encouraging private school learning, citing findings from the Southeast Asia Primary Learning Metrics National Report of the Philippines.

The data revealed that private schools “consistently deliver” higher-quality education, as evidenced by scores that significantly outperformed public schools in three literacy domains: reading, writing, and mathematics.

“The evidence is clear: GASTPE provides cost-effective benefits that can significantly enhance our educational system,” Villamor said.

With this, Villamor urged the government to “fully appreciate the value of public-private collaboration in education, making decisions that prioritize the welfare of our learners and the elevation of our national education standards.”