THE DEPARTMENT of Budget and Management increased the budget of the Department of Education’s Government Assistance and Subsidies programs for Fiscal Year 2023.

The department said that the approval will allow the fulfillment of its mandate to improve and expand access to quality education for Junior and Senior High School students.

The Government Assistance and Subsidies initiatives include the Senior High School Voucher Program and Educational Service Contracting.

“Out of the P626.18 billion approved Tier 1 Level by the DBM, per National Budget Memorandum No. 142, ‘Budget Call for FY 2023’, SHS VP got approval for P39.33 billion,” the DepEd said in a statement.

The increased budget for SHS-VP will cover 1,132,155 beneficiaries for School Year 2023-2024, while the ESC with a fund of P11.05 billion will cover 1,031,193 grantees.

Under the two programs, the Education department will pay private schools that accepted students who could no longer be taken in by public schools.

“In addition, the agency is also financially capacitated to make full payments to concerned private schools within one budget year,” it said.

Under the Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2013 or Republic Act 10533 (RA 10533), the length of schooling in basic education was expanded from 10 years to 12 years.

Due to the additional two years, the government provides financial assistance to qualified grade 10 completers entering senior high school.

DepEd, through Order No. 11 series of 2015 (DO 11 s.2015) introduced the Senior High School Voucher Program as a mechanism to provide financial assistance to senior high school students affected by the new curriculum.