DepEd doubles scholarship slots for public school students

FLAG CEREMONY Hundreds of students of Batasan Hills High School in Quezon City show up for the flag ceremony at the opening of the school year. Some 25 million students were expected to attend classes throughout the country. INQUIRER file photo

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Education has doubled the number of scholarships for deserving public school students to private schools, as part of its efforts to decongest the public schools.

Beneficiaries are close to 400,000 Grade 7 (the new First Year High School) students going back to class this June.

Education Secretary Armin Luistro said 377,227 scholarships were available for incoming Grade 7 pupils, nearly twice last year’s 190,536 grants, under the Government Assistance to Students and Teachers in Private Education program.

The GATSPE is a subsidy program in which the government pays the tuition for deserving students in crowded public school to enroll in private schools. Not only are the public schools decongested, the students get the benefit of a private school education. Public school heads nominate the students to the program.

The DepEd said its regional officials would determine how the scholarships should be distributed among 2,800 participating private schools, Luistro said.

Luzon students will get the biggest number of scholarships at 223,781. Of these, 73,418 will go to students in Region IV-A (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon).

This is almost as many as scholarships as will be given in the Visayas, at 74,105, and Mindanao, 79,341.