‘Ghost students’ in 7 regions avail of voucher program - DepEd

Metro Manila, Philippines - So-called ghost students - or those not enrolled - are beneficiaries of the senior high school voucher program in seven regions, data from the Department of Education (DepEd) showed.

The agency said these cases are in Metro Manila, Ilocos, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Eastern Visayas, Zamboanga Peninsula, and Bangsamoro region.

The agency earlier said 12 private schools in nine divisions have been involved in the anomalous scheme.

In an interview with NewsWatch Plus, Education Secretary Sonny Angara said these activities were discovered through the Private Education-Assistance Committee, an association of private schools.

“Some were discovered in the database of DepEd. Some discovered upon physical investigation, walang record ang mga bata talaga [students had no records]. These are the things we want to investigate. And definitely, at the very least, these schools will no longer be entitled to any vouchers and we’re looking at other penalties we can impose,” he said.

The DepEd said it also discovered instances where learners billed by private schools were actually enrolled in other institutions.

Under the SHS voucher program, students who completed Grade 10 in public schools and educational service contracting (ESC) grantees from private institutions are automatically qualified. Others would need to apply and go through evaluation.

The vouchers range from P14,000 to P22,500.

Angara said the agency would need to strengthen its database to make sure that the benefits reach the right people.

“(We need to) have checks and balances for schools to ensure na hindi na maulit ito [so this won’t happen again],” the DepEd chief said.