‘Private school scholarship program needs to be expanded’

MANILA, Philippines — The government needs to include preschool and elementary students in the Government Assistance to Students and Teachers in Private Education (GASTPE) to thin out overcrowded public schools, the Private Education Assistance Committee (PEAC) said over the weekend.

In a statement, PEAC member Bern Villamor said GASTPE – the country’s largest private school scholarship program – should be extended to Kindergarten to Grade 6 students amid the education crisis.

With the current situation, leaving public school students and teachers to deal with overcrowded classrooms, inadequate facilities, materials and equipment that lead to impaired learning and poor classroom conditions, Villamor said it was high time the government enabled private schools to absorb excess students.

“Expanding GASTPE to the elementary level will improve educational access, raise quality standards and save government funds by utilizing the spare capacity of private schools. This would also reduce the pressure on the Department of Education (DepEd) to rapidly build new schools,” said Villamor.

The GASTPE currently provides supplementary tuition fee assistance for high school students to allow them to pursue studies in private schools.

Education groups have long been calling on the government to expand the assistance program to Kindergarten to Grade 6 students.

PEAC, a trustee of the Fund for Assistance to Private Education, reported that as of school year 2023-2024, more than 2.2 million student grantees have received assistance.

However, PEAC said there are still more students in congested public schools that need help from the government.

A PEAC-commissioned study on “The Absorptive Capacity of Basic Education in the Philippines” covering nearly 28 million learners in school years 2018-2022 revealed that public schools are severely overcrowded, especially at higher grade levels.

Moreover, PEAC also urged the government to increase the amount of subsidies to GASTPE beneficiaries for junior and senior high schools.

Villamor explained that current GASTPE subsidies fail to cover all the fees that private schools charge, which necessitates the families of beneficiaries to pay