MANILA, Philippines 鈥� House Bill (HB) No. 11214 which seeks to expand assistance provided to teachers and students in private schools has been approved on third and final reading by the House of Representatives.
During Tuesday鈥檚 session, HB 11214 or the proposed Private Basic Education Vouchers Assistance Act鈥攚hich seeks to repeal sections of Republic Act 8545鈥攚as approved with 200 lawmakers voting in the affirmative, with zero in the negative, and three abstentions.
If enacted, the bill would repeal sections of RA 8545, the law that amended RA 6728 or the Government Assistance to Students and Teachers in Private Education Act (GASTPE).
This means students enrolled in private schools can receive assistance through vouchers, where vulnerable and underprivileged families are given priority 鈥渙r those belonging to the bottom first to fifth income deciles, as determined by the Philippine Statistics Authority.鈥�
READ: House panel OKs substitute bill to expand aid to teachers, students
The Department of Education (DepEd) will be the lead agency tasked to determine the amount contained in the voucher that would be given to deserving students.
鈥淯nder the basic education voucher program, kindergarten, elementary, and secondary students enrolled in recognized private basic education schools charging school fees shall be provided by the government with vouchers in such amount as may be determined by the DepEd,鈥� the bill stated.
READ: Group objects to bill amending law on private education assistance
Schools that are accredited by the DepEd will be allowed to increase tuition fees provided that 70 percent of the amount coming from the hikes would be allocated to the payment of 鈥渟alaries, wages, allowances, and other statutory benefits of teaching and non-teaching personnel, except administrators who are principal stockholders of the school,鈥�
鈥淎t least 20 percent of the tuition increases shall go to the improvement or modernization of buildings, equipment, libraries, laboratories, gymnasia and similar facilities and to the payment of other costs of operation,鈥� the bill read.
鈥淔or this purpose, schools shall maintain a separate record of accounts for all assistance received from the government, any tuition increase, and the detailed disposition and use thereof, which record shall be made available for periodic inspection as may be determined by the DepEd,鈥� it added.
A Bureau of Private Education (BPE), which will 鈥渟erve as the focal office for the administration, supervision, and regulation of all matters鈥� involving private schools, will also be created if the bill is signed into law.
Some of the BPE鈥檚 functions would include the following:
- Monitor and assess the implementation of the private basic education institutions of the policies, plans, and programs established by the DepEd
- Set and enforce minimum standards for programs and institutions of learning, subject to public hearing
- Ensure that the activities, efforts, and performance of private basic education institutions shall meet the high standards of excellence and accountability
- Administer and implement the policies and programs related to the assistance and subsidies given by the government to students, teachers, and schools in private education
- Establish and support partnerships with individual private education institutions to respond effectively to the pressing needs of students and teachers, and to provide learning solutions to underserved communities
- Monitor and ensure compliance of private basic education institutions to the promulgated rules and regulations of the DepEd in all matters concerning private schools, including tuition fee increases
Last November 2023, the House committee on basic education approved the then-unnumbered substitute bill. While the bill was approved, Albay Rep. Joey Salceda reiterated the need for Section 13鈥攚hich seeks to create the BPE, under the DepEd jurisdiction.
Before the committee approved the bill, a group representing teachers and staffers from colleges and universities in the country warned that repealing the existing law may raise tuition fees without restraint.
According to the Council of Teachers, Staff of Colleges and Universities in the Philippines (Cotescup), the previous version of the bill repels Section 5(2) of RA 6728, which dictates that seventy percent of the amount subsidized allotted for tuition fee or of the tuition fee increases shall go to the payment of salaries, wages, allowances and other benefits of teaching and non-teaching personnel.
However, committee chair and Pasig City Rep. Roman Romulo, disputed such concerns, noting that the bill echoed the terms of the current law鈥攖hat 70 percent of a tuition hike would go to the salaries and benefits of teaching and non-teaching personnel.