DepEd sets deadline for SHS Voucher Program application

The Department of Education ( DepEd) announced yesterday that the application for Senior High School ( SHS) Voucher Program for Grade 10 completers who are not Education Service Contracting (ESC) grantees but chose to pursue SHS will end on February 15, 2016.

Education Secretary Armin Luistro said the voucher program is a support mechanism to ease the financial burden of parents who will send their children to SHS in June 2016.

The SHS voucher program is a form of government subsidy which offers discount in school fees when a student enrolls in a private school that offers the SHS program, starting SY 2016-2017.

The program is intended for Grade 10 finishers who wish to pursue SHS education in private high schools, local universities and colleges, state universities and colleges, and technical and vocational schools.

Luistro said that the non-ESC students from private Junior High School may apply for vouchers subject to an assessment of their socio- economic status. If deemed qualified, they will also receive 80 percent of the voucher value.

A qualified voucher recipient who successfully enrolls in a private SHS Provider becomes a Voucher Program Beneficiary (VPB), Luistro noted.

However, the SHS Voucher Program will only cover two years regardless of the number of years it takes for the student to finish SHS.

Vouchers are only valid if redeemed within the first semester of the school year immediately after the completion of JHS.

Voucher payments will be released on a per semester basis to the SHS provider where the VPB is enrolled.

The implementation of SHS starting SY 2016-2017 completes the K to 12 curriculum which started at kinder and ends at Grade 12.

Grade 10 completers can choose from four major tracks – academic, technical-vocational livelihood, sports, and arts and design – depending on their skills and inclination.