Intention to implementation

Education Secretary Sonny Angara launched last month a one-and-a-half-day workshop that convened officials of the Department of Education (DepEd) and private school leaders to discuss how best to “operationalize” public-private complementarity framework (PPCF) in basic education. The workshop quickly focused on the existing PPCF model, the voucher program that subsidized the enrollment in private schools of children DepEd could not accommodate in its system and the prospects for its expansion. But days after the workshop, Angara reported aborting the attempt to collect over P50 million in subsidies for “ghost” students. A serious case damaging the voucher program concept?

Not necessarily. The story needed context and critical information. The operative word was “attempt.” DepEd stopped the scam and saved the money with the help of the Private Education Assistance Committee (PEAC), its partner in managing the voucher program. The case involved students in private senior high schools (SHS) who were added to PEAC’s portfolio in 2016 after the introduction of K-12. The Education Service Contracting (ESC), which PEAC has been running since 1989, had avoided serious fraud. But ESC applicants pass through a different approval process. The PEAC requires private schools wishing to participate in ESC to undergo prior vetting to qualify for the subsidy. The pressure to find seats for K-10 graduates, following the passage of the K-12 law, gave PEAC no time to enforce a similar qualification system for SHS as it had recommended to the DepEd.

In 2020, the PEAC developed the mechanics for prequalifying SHS voucher applicants; it is waiting for the DepEd to approve its implementation, perhaps delayed by the change in administration. In 2022, it introduced a voluntary certification program for which about 150 SHS have since qualified, still a fraction of schools receiving subsidies. Over a year ago, Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian also flagged the potential problem of ghost students, which he estimated could reach as many as 19,000. The calculation also came from PEAC data. But it could not conclude, and neither could the Commission on Audit that concerned students did not exist; only that the schools had not submitted the necessary evidence for their enrollment and attendance.

In the current SHS case, the PEAC has received assurances from the private schools that they would submit the necessary documentation. If they are unable to meet this commitment, the PEAC can demand the return of the subsidies government had paid. But the issue of potential fraud has rightly provoked the public and calls for an investigation. Its disclosure provided timely justification and support for DepEd’s initiative to develop an effective operational system that good policies need to produce their benefits. This will take persistent, hard work because systems need refining as they run into implementation problems at ground level.

That said, it was encouraging that the DepEd workshop participants did not dispute the PPCF framework that served as the main document to guide the discussion. All top-level DepEd administrators who spoke at the workshop, from the secretary down to regional directors, accepted the framework principles already established as policy in DepEd Order No. 006, issued in May 2024. These principles, after all, only followed the constitutional mandate on education and aligned with the findings of EdCom I and EdCom II. The question posed by Secretary Angara in his opening remarks was not “why PPCF,” but “how far” it was possible to push it.

What has already happened cannot be impossible. In the ’60s, the private sector accounted for probably 40 percent of basic education enrollment. This level is at least possible, which is not to say that this is easily attainable or advantageous. However, the private sector could not go beyond that load or even sustain it as costs began to rise. There was no ready model to support the effort needed to educate the growing student population other than through tuition that Filipino families, the majority of whom are poor, could not afford. The government has to meet the need from its budget. Now, even the government is hard-pressed to satisfy the still-growing demand. But the private sector, historically the engine for educational development, is leaving basic education; it cannot compete with free public education. PPCF now offers options—ESC, charter schools, support for faith communities—allowing government assistance to private education.

Through DO 006, DepEd achieved a double breakthrough. First, it recognized that the constitutional mandate requires the government to address the educational needs of children, especially at the primary level, whether they are in private or public schools. Second, it acknowledged that PPCF benefits both the public and the private sectors in realizing their common mission—to provide all children access to education of comparable and meaningful quality.

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