1. Department of Education Plans for the Senior HS Voucher Program Undersecretary Francisco M. Varela August 8, 2014

2. Projected SHS Enrollment, 2016-2018 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

3. Pure public provision DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Pure public provision would place enormous management and budgetary strain on DepED. We would need to: Build 57,100 classrooms Hire 82,400 specialized teachers Moreover, key decisions would also need to be made on: What tracks and specializations to offer in which schools What tools, equipment, facilities are needed by which schools Where to source specialized teachers and how to deploy them effectively in which schools These institutional pressures could be reduced contingent upon the willingness and capacity of the private sector and other non- DepED providers to offer SHS.

4. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Why expand private provision in SHS? Greater Private Participation in SHS PragmaticFundamental Greater diversity in supply Greater dynamism in the system Greater autonomy Greater student choice Address reduced enrollments in HEIs Reduce institutional pressures on public school system Minimize upfront capital cost

5. Senior High School Voucher DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Republic Act No. 10533, enacted in 2013, provides for the expansion of the GASTPE program to SHS, including the implementation of a voucher program Voucher: expands student choice – Is easily scalable and administratively feasible – Minimizes discretion and conflict of interest – Has built-in accountability mechanisms that leads to improvements in quality

6. Key Features of the Voucher Program DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Greater private participation in SHS provision through a voucher program Voucher amounts aligned to public cost of provision Vouchers to be distributed to all public and ESC Grade 10 graduates, including eligible private, non- ESC Grade 10 graduates Voucher as a long term program of the DepEd

7. Agreements on SHS Voucher Recipients DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Eligible voucher recipients: – All public Grade 10 graduates – All Grade 10 ESC graduates from private schools – Some Grade 10 graduates from private schools, subject to application Target: approx. 40% of public JHS graduates availing of vouchers every year Vouchers must be used in the school year immediately following graduation. Voucher recipients will receive subsidy until they graduate from Grade 12, regardless of transfer of school.

8. Agreements on Voucher Tiering DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Cluster 1 Full value: P15,000 Approx 80% value: P12,000 Cluster 2 Full value: P17,500 Approx 80% value: P14,000 Cluster 3 Full value: P20,000 Approx. 80% value: P16,000 Cluster 4 Full value: P22,500 Approx 80% value: P18,000 Voucher amount approximates public cost of provision – Tier 1: based on regional clusters (3-4 groupings) – Tier 2: based on type of beneficiary – public Grade 10 graduate: full voucher value – ESC/private Grade 10 graduate: approx. 80% of full value Voucher amount is determined by the location of the school where an SHS student is enrolled in.

9. SHS Voucher Eligibility Process DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Grade 10 Students are identified through DepEd LIS and FAPE ESC system. Grade 10 Students are notified of their eligibility. Early Registration is conducted for SHS. Grade 10 students graduate: final list of eligible recipients. Students enroll in public and non- DepEd SHS. June 2015 August 2015January 2016 March 2016 June 2016

10. Agreements on SHS Providers DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION All licensed SHS providers are allowed to participate. Voucher amounts will vary for SUCs and LUCs. Private schools are encouraged to minimize or to provide additional subsidies to cover top-up fees. An additional subsidy is being considered for selected tracks and electives. Accreditation of programs may be required for this program. Joint delivery of programs will be allowed. – DepEd/Non-DepEd school offers core curriculum while TVI offers tech-voc curriculum strand. Reports on attendance or grades of voucher students may be required on a periodic basis. Licensed SHS Providers Private HS Private HEIs SUCsLUCsTVIs

11. SHS Voucher Redemption Process DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Students enroll in public and in licensed (and accredited, for additional subsidy)non- DepEd SHS. Some students may enroll with vouchers. Non-DepEd schools submit the list of voucher recipients/billing statement through the voucher management system. Checks are made in the system to ensure there are no errors in the billing statement (on names and voucher amounts, etc). Periodic reports on attendance may be required. Payments are made directly to non-DepEd schools’ accounts. Grade 11 completers are promoted to Grade 12. Same process follows for new batch of students. June 2016 July/August 2016 March 2016

12. SHS Voucher Implementation DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Jan: Issuance of policy on non-DepEd participation in SHS Apr: Issuance of provisional SHS licenses; start development of Voucher Management System Second Quarter: Resolve tiering and rider policy issues; joint delivery of prorams. Third Quarter: Finalize SHS voucher policy and incorporate in 2016 budget. 2014 First Quarter: announce policy on application for vouchers for non-public, non-ESC students Second Quarter: Voucher Management System in place Third Quarter: announce eligibility of beneficiaries and SHS providers database uploaded online 2015 First Quarter: Early enrollment for SHS June 2016: SHS Implementation 2016

13. Recap: SHS Policy Agreements DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Beneficiaries Vouchers given to all Grade 10 public and ESC graduates and select private school graduates. Voucher must be redeemed in the school year immediately after graduation. Subsidy is provided to voucher recipients until they graduate in Grade 12. Providers All licensed SHS providers can redeem vouchers. A n additional subsidy may be provided for special tracks but this will entail accreditation. Joint delivery of programs will be allowed. Voucher Tiering Tiered on a regional basis and by type of beneficiary. Voucher values redeemed based on location of SHS provider. A SHS Voucher Management System will be developed to facilitate registration and redemption of vouchers, processing of payment and reporting and monitoring of performance of students.

14. Next Steps for DepEd DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Major communication on SHS Voucher Program to enable private/non-DepEd schools to invest in and mobilize for Senior High School (SHS) prior to 2016 and to get feedback from stakeholders. Ongoing development of the voucher management system, processing of applications for SHS provisional licenses and refinement of program features. Close coordination of DepEd Division Offices with private/non-DepEd schools and other key stakeholders to come up with a clear strategy and operations plan for the implementation of SHS