The Role of FAPE in National Development Over the last three decades of its existence, FAPE has already

become an institution in the

Philippine educational system. With the burgeoning student population now totaling 20 million at all levels and growing at an average annual rate of 2.5% per year, government has found in the private education sector a highly capable ally in promoting equity and access to quality education among Filipino students. This alliance has flourished over the past four decades and has been very much evident in the operations of the Fund for Assistance to Private Education. Since its establishment in 1968, FAPE has stood as the main symbol of governments recognition of the role of private education in the Philippine educational system and a major vehicle for manifesting governments concern for the welfare of private schools. With private schools still accounting for 78% of enrollment at the tertiary level, the ability of the country to produce manpower with the world-class skills required to compete in the global market will be dependent, to a large extent, upon the ability of private educational institutions to maintain the highest standards of quality. This ability will, in turn, require substantial government support in terms of logistics. Moreover, in performing a public function, private schools rightfully deserve a just share in government support. More than mere support, it is to the best interests of society that the government ensure their survival. Thus, since the Constitution upholds the complementary role of private schools, and since FAPE is the only organization in the Philippines whose sole reason for being is to promote the quality and viability of private schools, it is to the best interests of the Philippine educational system that government should ensure the survival of FAPE. Indeed, Philippine education would not be the same without private schools, and the private education sector would not be the same without FAPE. GASTPE 1. Brief History of ESC and EVS The government exacts taxes from Filipinos of various socio-economic strata. For many years, however, the enjoyment from tax money was limited to government schools alone. The question

raised was: Dont the children in private schools rightfully deserve a portion of the taxes paid to government? The government recognized this fact and decided to extend financial assistance to private education with the enactment in June 1989 of R.A. 6728 or the Government Assistance to Students and Teachers in Private Education (GASTPE) to assist poor but deserving students in the financial burden of studying in private institutions. R.A. 6728 legalized the use of government funds to subsidize the tuition fees of students in private schools through various programs. The enactment of R.A. 6728 became even more imperative with the enactment a year before of R.A. 6655, the Free Public Secondary Education Act of 1988, which mandated free public secondary education to all. Early beginnings of the Educational Service Contracting (ESC) The idea of government support for private education entered the consciousness of education planners in the late 70s when student population in public schools started to soar. At that time up to the 80s and the 90s, the government was compelled to build more and more classrooms and hire more and more teachers to meet shortages, especially in the regions. But the evergrowing cost of public school expansion only translated to an ever increasing burden on the government due to its scarce resources. The continued public school expansion alarmed the private education sector as students in private schools began to transfer to public schools where no tuition had to be paid. The exodus of students from the private to the public secondary schools only resulted in further congestion of already crowded public schools, in stark contrast to the growing idle capacity of unutilized classrooms in private schools. The government realized that the more feasible alternative that would best serve national interest was to institute a program of partnership between the public and the private education sectors. That concept of partnership, however, required aggressive and concrete programs and projects. In fiscal year 19811982, the then Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports (MECS) commissioned the Fund for Assistance to Private Education (FAPE) to conduct a feasibility study on the ESC. Satisfied with the results of the study, in SY 19821983, MECS undertook pilot trials of ESC in ESC in Region VIII, in coordination with the Eastern Visayas Association of Private Schools (EVAPS), and in Region XII, in coordination with the Notre Dame Educational Association (NDEA). The pilot test was undertaken by a Manila Task Force headed by Bro. Rolando R. Dizon, FSC, who at that time was the president of the Catholic Educational Association of the Philippines (CEAP). The results of the first pilot years indicated that the government could generate substantial savings by pursuing the ESC program, which could in turn be utilized for other important innovations and urgent quality improvements in the educational system. The findings on costs and learning outcomes supported the scheme as a cost-effective alternative in educational investment. The findings further implied that quality education could be achieved without having to increase the current levels of expenditures in public schools.

Education Minister Jaime C. Laya recognized ESCs viability and included a modest Php5 million allocation for ESC in the 1986 budget describing it as one of the three new thrusts of the then Ministry of Education. The change of government in 1986 paved the way for an even more favorable climate for ESC. Pres. Corazon Aquino during her speech before educators in Cagayan de Oro on July 5, 1986 cited ESC as a cost-effective method of delivering education. She added: The main burden of educating our people should be borne by the government. I would like to assure you that the government is exploring every possible source of support for private education. Through the leadership of then DECS Secretary Lourdes R. Quisumbing, ESC was given a big boost. The ESC program was recognized in the 19871992 Philippine Development Plan as a strategy to pursue on providing Filipinos equitable access to education and manpower training opportunities. The Department of Budget and Management as well as Congress also gave ESC a favorable nod. Thus on June 10, 1989, the landmark GASTPE law was enacted. 2. Educational Service Contracting (ESC) Today, ESC is a widely known government program that decongests public high schools by contracting the excess capacities of private high schools through the provision of subsidies for poor students who, otherwise, would have gone to the public high schools. It is also seen as a cost effective alternative to building more public high schools by the government, the number of which is far less than public elementary schools that outnumber the former by almost 4:1. With an increased allocation for the ESC in school year 20102011, the government has enabled more students to study in private secondary schools. In ESC alone, 595,566 students are recipients of grants amounting to Php3.068 billion in SY 20102011. First year beneficiaries increased by 9 percent, with 202,000 grantees, while total number of grantees from first to fourth year high school, increased by 11 percent compared to the previous school year. ESC allocation for SY 20102011 rose by more than Php332 million, equivalent to an increase of 12 percent over SY 20092010, although there had been a decrease of Php176.645 million in the allocation for educational voucher system (EVS). For SY 20102011, ESC participating schools rose to 3,178 from 2,813 for SY 20092010 or an increase of 13 percent. For over 20 years, ESC has been on a fast-forward growth. Since it was piloted in school year 19821983, the ESC has helped an estimated 4.5 million students who cannot be accommodated in public schools to avail of quality private education with government subsidizing part of their tuition fees. ESC has, likewise, provided the government a cost-effective way of fulfilling its constitutional mandate to provide free education up to the secondary level, obviating the need to construct more school buildings and hire additional teachers for an ever-expanding student population.

A complementary project to ESC known as the Tuition Fee Supplement (TFS) was provided for in the GASTPE law. This project provided a minimal tuition subsidy of Php250 per student at the onset of implementation, which continued to increase through the years. The tuition and other school fess of ESC students averaged Php669.63 when the ESC program got underway in SY 19861987, and increased to Php897.93 in SY 19881989. The amount rose to Php1,147.95 in SY 19901991, where government subsidized a ceiling of Php1,320. Government subsidy was pegged in SY 19881989 at Php1,249 followed in SY 19891990 to Php1,290. Today, ESC students in Metro Manila enjoy a Php10,000 tuition fee subsidy while those from the provinces get Php5,000 subsidy. (See Figure 12 on ESC Subsidy Cost Per Student.) The current subsidy is still lower than governments estimated per capita cost per student in public high schools, which had been pegged at Php7,500 per student exclusive of capital costs. Given this, the cost effectiveness of the programs concept vis--vis governments high capital cost in building more public high schools is clearly established. 3. Education Voucher System Like the ESC, the Education Voucher System (EVS) is implemented to decongest the public schools and reduce the class size to more manageable levels in public high schools, especially those experiencing shortage of classrooms and teachers. This is done by distributing vouchers worth Php5,000 each to public elementary students in DepEd-identified priority areas to enable them to enroll in a private school of their choice. EVS was established in 2006 and started as a pump-priming program of the administration of Pres. Gloria Arroyo. And like the ESC, EVS grant starts at the first year level and represents a four-year funding commitment by the government. EVS is essentially the same as the ESC and draws its funding from the GASTPE budget. On its first year of implementation in SY 20062007, a total of Php256 million was allocated for the EVS but only 64,048 or 64 percent of the vouchers, were utilized. For SY 20072008, the total number of grantees increased by 40 percent from 64,069 in SY 20062007 to 90,137 scholars receiving subsidies totaling Php450.685 million. There was, however, a significant decrease (48 percent) in the allocation of first year EVS grantees during the period. For SY 20102011, 90,807 grantees are benefitting from EVS compared to 128,215 in SY 2009 2010, or a decrease of almost 30 percent. For SY 20102011, EVS grantees are expected to reach 17,000 for first year grantees alone. The biggest factor that contributed to the low utilization rate of EVS during the first years of its implementation was the difficulty in reconciling two contradictory criteria in the selection of beneficiaries as prescribed by DepEd Orders. First, beneficiaries should preferably come from a family whose annual family income is not more than the poverty income level. Second, the beneficiaries must be willing to pay the difference between the voucher grant and the private

schools tuition and other fees. The Order required that only those living below poverty level were entitled to EVS and yet it still required them to pay the tuition differentials. Other factors that contributed to the initial years low utilization rates were the absence of private schools in certain areas, the late implementation of the program, resistance of some public school principals to the EVS, and the limited coverage targets of many public schools. 4. Teacher Salary Subsidy The latest major program to be implemented under the GASTPE is the Teacher Salary Subsidy for private school teachers, which was given a budgetary allocation of Php134,228,250 in SY 20092010. The allocation got a modest increase in SY 20102011 with Php148,891,500. The teacher subsidy is meant primarily to encourage teachers in private schools to continue serving the private school system. It is hoped that with this scheme, the exodus of private school teachers to public schools will be arrested, owing to the higher salaries the government now pays the public school teachers. Under the guidelines provided by DepEd, only private high school teachers who are duly licensed by the Professional Regulation Commission are entitled to the subsidy. The amount of salary subsidy to qualified teachers is equivalent to Php250 per ESC grantee, based on the online billing system of FAPE. Under these DepEd guidelines, ESC teachers stand to receive salary subsidies ranging from Php7,000 to Php10,500 per year, depending on their loads. 5. ESC/EVS Administration DECS, however, took over the administration of the program from SY 19911992 to SY 1995 1996 or for five years. This period coincided with the term of Secretary Isidro Cario who, at that time, felt that a program of such magnitude should be implemented by the DECS. But It was also during this period that many problems cropped up in the implementation of the program. Many participating schools were not paid on time, with some failing to receive their entitlements for as long as three years. Thus many participating schools were forced to take out loans to be able to pay the salaries of their teachers. Because of their experience, some schools even opted to terminate their participation in the program. These unfavorable circumstances led to the recommissioning of FAPE as the official implementor of the ESC and TFS programs, beginning with the term of Sec. Ricardo Gloria in 1996. With the management of these projects back, FAPE was able to pay the schools entire entitlement backlog within a period of two years, particularly when the Department of Budget and Management authorized the release of funds from the DECS directly to FAPE in 1997. This allowed FAPE to make prompt and fast payments to participating schools with complete documentation within three weeks. But during the time of Education Secretary Raul Roco, FAPEs tasks were again limited to the processing of documents and the control of the entire GASTPE fund was again transferred to the DepEd. This arrangement has been maintained up to the present.

In managing the program, FAPE continues to fine-tune its implementation: from accommodating overflow public school enrolments to allocating slots to private schools; expediting the processing of documents; and instituting the certification and monitoring processes to ensure that participating schools follow the program guidelines; but more importantly, that grantees get quality private education. In June 2008, the FAPE National Secretariat launched its Internet-based processing of ESC and EVS documents. This system now allows schools to enroll their ESC and EVS student online, generate reports and statistics automatically, and minimize errors or discrepancies, including detection of possible padding of list of grantees. With the further increase in ESC and EVS program participation, the online system facilitates a more efficient processing of documents, a faster retrieval of reliable data, and drastically reduce paperwork for the schools, FAPE and DepEd.