Abstract:
The report assesses two Department of Education's (DepEd) student financial assistance schemes under the Government Assistance to Students and Teachers in Private Education (GASTPE) program. Those schemes are the Educational Service Contracting (ESC) and the Senior High School Voucher (SHSV) schemes. Through these schemes, DepEd pays tuition fees for eligible students enrolling in qualified private schools of their choice. The study aims to answer the following questions: Are the programs on track towards achieving their objectives? What are the key challenges and adjustments that need to be made for the program to achieve its objectives? What can be done to improve the programs' ability to costeffectively, equitably, and sustainably promote the private sector's contribution to national education goals? The study examines those questions and, in that context, analyzes the following specific concerns: (i) the adequacy of the financial assistance provided to target beneficiaries and the methodology for rationally setting the programs' subsidy value; (ii) the inclusion of disadvantaged children and the methodology for targeting and prioritizing them; and (iii) the need to adjust program objectives and implementation design. Using a mix of qualitative and quantitative methods, the report concludes that the logic of the programs is reasonable and that there is evidence to support the hypothesis that in the Philippines, it is cost-effective to use private schools to help government achieve its national education goals. There are, however, significant design, implementation, and governance challenges that need to be thoughtfully addressed as part of the call of the Philippine Development Plan (PDP) 2023-2028 for the strengthening and expansion of private sector participation in education. Hence, the report suggests some ideas in this regard.