DepEd opens voucher program for senior high school students

 MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Education (DepEd) on Thursday opened applications for its voucher program for senior high school students in private schools for school year 2021-2022.

 “Through the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), DepEd was able to secure additional funds for the continuity of the implementation of SHS VP (Senior High School Voucher Program) as well as its other programs of Government Assistance and Subsidies,” DepEd Undersecretary Annalyn Sevilla said. 

The  program was done in collaboration with the Private Education Assistance Committee (PEAC), and will accept online applications from September 9-23, 2021 through the Online Voucher Application Portal (OVAP). 

 Applicants must create accounts on OVAP on or before September 21, 2021.

 This program also applies to all public school students who have completed Grade 10 and will be transferring to private schools.

On July 26, the DepEd said it is projecting a total of 1,175,554 beneficiaries for the program in the next school year, 657,906 of whom are in Grade 11 while 517,648 are in Grade 12.

Of the total number, 56,445 are expected to apply through the online Senior High School Voucher Program system.

Meanwhile, a total of 21,034,472 students have already registered for the upcoming school year. This is almost 20 percent lower than last school year’s 26,227,022 registrants.

Below is the list of students eligible for the said program:

1. Automatically Qualified learners that don’t need to apply:

• Category A: Learners who completed Grade 10 in SY 2020-2021 in DepEd public schools
• Category B: Learners who completed Grade 10 in SY 2020-2021 in SUCs and LUCs 
• Category C: Learners who completed Grade 10 in SY 2020-2021 in private schools who are ESC grantees

2. Voucher Applicants that need to apply:

• Category D: Grade 10 completers in private schools in SY 2020-2021 who are not ESC grantees
• Category E: Grade 10 completers who completed Grade 10 prior to SY 2020-2021 but not earlier than 2016 and had not previously enrolled for Grade 11
• Category F: Learners who had passed the ALS A&E Test for Grade 10 not earlier than 2016 and had not previously enrolled in Grade 11 or ALS learners who passed the Presentation Portfolio Assessment
• Category G: Learners who passed the PEPT for Grade 10 not earlier than 2016 and had not previously enrolled for Grade 11 or will take the PEPT in SY 2021-2022.

The Department of Education opens online application for the Senior High School Voucher Program (SHS VP) today. Visit https://t.co/UuCiMIIhfY to apply!

Read: https://t.co/s0qY85AHDj pic.twitter.com/HIdzRNN26u

— DepEd (@DepEd_PH) September 9, 2021

School Year 2021-2022 will open on September 13 and will also be the last day of enrollment. It will also remain under blended learning as COVID-19 cases continue to soar.

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