Education Secretary Bro. Armin Luistro. ARNOLD ALMACEN
INCOMING senior high school students who have yet to apply for a Department of Education (DepEd) voucher to enroll in private schools, as well as in state colleges or public technical-vocational institutions, have until May 6 to pursue the application process, Education Secretary Armin Luistro said.
DepEd vouchers that entitle students to a subsidy of up to P22,500 are given to Grade 10 completers who would like to pursue senior high school (SHS) in private schools, private universities and colleges, or state colleges and universities. Public school students and recipients of the DepEd’s Education Service Contracting program need not apply as they are automatically qualified to receive the vouchers.
Online only
Unlike in the initial application process where hard copies were accepted, Luistro said that the agency will only accept until May 6 online applications sent through the Private Education Assistance Committee’s online voucher application portal (https://ovap.deped.
gov.ph). The results of those who qualified for the program will be released on or before May 20.
The DepEd official told the Inquirer that the agency decided to reopen on Friday the application process for the voucher program because there’s “room for more (subsidized students) in the budget.”
The Department of Budget and Management on Tuesday said that more than P12 billion has been set aside for the pioneer batch of SHS students under DepEd’s K-12 education reform program.
Allocation
Of this amount, P11.2 billion has been allocated for students who will go to private schools, while P1 billion will be for incoming SHS students at state universities and colleges, as well as public technical-vocational institutions.
Luistro said more than 50,000 students had been approved by the DepEd as voucher recipients. But unlike the government’s Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program, the voucher is directly released to the school instead of being given to students or their parents. Jovic Yee