The government is spending an annual average of P32.00 billion in subsidies to private education in the forms of education service contracting (ESC) for Junior High School (JHS) and voucher program (VP) for Senior High School (SHS). In recognition of the invaluable contribution of the private education sector in the delivery of quality education for Filipino learners, lawmakers in the current Congress seek the expansion of government subsidies to cover private education in all grade levels in the K-12 program. This despite various issues raised by the Commission on Audit (COA) in its 2018 Performance Audit Report and the call for the review of the implementation of the existing ESC and VP subsidies under the Expanded Government Assistance to Students and Teachers in the Private Education (E-GASTPE) Program. The paper weighs in on the benefits of expanding the coverage and the need to address policy issues and gaps of the existing program.
The analysis puts forward the need to reassess E-GASTPE program design, clarify roles and accountabilities of both private and public offices managing and implementing the program and address implementation issues prior to further expanding the program. Other policy recommendations center on exploring other forms of government partnership with the private education sector such as the establishment of more low-fee private schools for low-income Filipino learners.