TACLOBAN CITY– The national government has allocated P41 billion this year to help underprivileged students attend private high schools in areas where public schools are unavailable or overcrowded, House Minority Leader and 4Ps party-list Representative Marcelino “Nonoy” Libanan said Monday, March 9.
The funding is expected to benefit around 2.58 million students from low-income households, enabling them to complete their secondary education without the financial burden of tuition fees.
Libanan emphasized that the subsidy is crucial at a time when many families face economic challenges and students are at risk of dropping out to seek immediate employment.
“The P41 billion allocation is not just an education policy — it’s an economic safeguard for families and our future workforce,” Libanan said. “Supporting students through financial hardship gives them a real chance to finish their studies and break the cycle of poverty.”
The allocation is distributed across three programs: P12.3 billion for the Junior High School Educational Service Contracting Program (JHSESC), which allows graduates of public elementary schools to enroll in Grades 7 to 10 in private high schools contracted by the Department of Education (DepEd); P26.5 billion for the Senior High School Voucher Program (SHSVP), providing tuition grants for Grade 10 completers to enroll in Grades 11 and 12 in participating private schools; and P2.2 billion for the Joint Delivery Voucher Program (JDVP), which supports senior high school students in the technical-vocational-livelihood track attending private institutions or specialized non-DepEd schools.
Data from the Second Congressional Commission on Education shows that student dropouts remain a concern. In the 2024–2025 school year, 169,836 of 2,041,601 Grade 11 students — or 8.3 percent — did not advance to Grade 12.
The DepEd and the Private Education Assistance Committee jointly manage the JHSESC and SHSVP, while the JDVP is administered solely by DepEd. Libanan said these programs aim to keep more students in school, particularly those in economically vulnerable households, and ensure a steady pipeline of skilled graduates for the workforce.
(LIZBETH ANN A.ABELLA)
