SERIES 4 : THE PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT VOUCHER PROGRAM AND HOW IT WORKS

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As I had mentioned from my previous blog, parents had been concern of the additional two (2) years of their children’s’ education before they are considered high school graduate. Mostly of the concern is on the financial aspect due to the stability of a particular family to be able to make across the two (2) years. In consideration that most are having a hard time letting ends meet on their household expenses how much more an additional years on education. On my other blog I also had mentioned that usually after the four (4) years in high school parents ask their children to stop schooling and then look for a job to help the family especially those that have younger siblings.



This problem is actually not left unheard by the government. When the two (2) additional years in high school was approved, a laid out plan was also created as financial support of the Filipino family. Thus the so called VOUCHER PROGRAM. The program is to help families all across the Philippines irregardless of income status to get the chance to avail of financial assistance from the government. Though of course you may question why not filter those who can avail, actually the program is plotted in such a manner that the assistance will be distributed fairly. Take a look at the table below :

LOCATION	FROM	TO	AMOUNT	VOUCHER TYPE
National Capital Region (NCR)	Public	Private	PHP22,500.00	Voucher
NCR	Private	Private	PHP18,000.00	ESC grantee
NCR	Public/Private	Local State U/College	PHP11,250.00
======	======	======	======	======
Non-NCR	Public	Private	PHP20,000.00	Voucher
Non-NCR	Private	Private	PHP16,000.00	ESC grantee
Non-NCR	Public/Private	Local State U/College	PHP10,000.00
======	======	======	======	======
Other Cities/Mun.	Public	Private	PHP17,500.00	Voucher
Other Cities/Mun.	Private	Private	PHP14,000.00	ESC grantee
Other Cities/Mun.	Public/Private	Local State U/College	PHP8,750.00

What will happen to the tuition of the students provided there is a voucher and how it works? Read on…

There are schools that set tuition fees depending on the strand the student is taking.
Example :

School A offers STEM strand PHP20,000.00 tuition fee for one school year
School A offers ICT strand PHP25,000.00 tuition fee for one school year

Beth is from a public school and enrols in School A under STEM strand. Since Beth is a public school completer and School A is located in a Non-NCR area, she then can avail of the PHP20,000.00 worth of voucher. Beth then is considered free of tuition fee because her voucher already covers the entire school year worth of tuition fee. Her parents concern now is only for her daily allowance, books, uniforms and projects.

Don is from a private school and enrols in School A under STEM strand. Since Don is a private school completer and School A is located in a Non-NCR area, he then can avail of the PHP16,000.00 under the ESC grantee program. Don then is going to pay only PHP9,000.00 for the entire school year about PHP1,125.00 per examination period.

So base on the two given scenario above it shows how schools compute for the student’s tuition. Of course the computation and the fees defer in every school in every location. Whatever is the tuition I think all would agree that the voucher program of the government had helped ease up a little bit the financial problem of the parents in sending their child to school.

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The choosing of the best school for the student now becomes the important decision making in the family. If even after Senior High School the student still decides they will go to work after SHS then they will choose the school that is equipped and competitive enough to ensure a possible competency for the employability of the student. This is when schools preparation to cater the students’ needs and the Department of Education standard comes in.

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Schools can’t just declare tuition fees simply because the parents can now afford it. They still has to abide by the other regulating organization like Department of Education if their tuition fees goes by the standard and the policies set. Thus, no taking advantage of the voucher program.

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Through this endeavour of the government may the millennia’s or the generation Z can help the Philippines move forward on its aim on producing more global competitive graduates.

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