3 months ago
45
Upgrade to High-Speed Internet for only ₱1499/month!
Enjoy up to 100 Mbps fiber broadband, perfect for browsing, streaming, and gaming.
Visit Suniway.ph to learn
Elizabeth Marcelo - The Philippine Star
December 27, 2025 | 12:00am
The photo of the Commission on Audit's office in Quezon CIty.
The STAR / Michael Varcas
MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Audit (COA) has flagged the inclusion of “ghost students” in the Department of Education (DepEd)’s Senior High School Voucher Program or SHS-VP.
In its 2024 annual audit report on DepEd, the COA said there were several instances noted by the audit team indicating that ghost students were indeed included in the Government Assistance to Students and Teachers in Private Education (GASTPE) – SHS-VP for school years (SYs) 2022-2023 and 2023-2024.
For one, the COA said a significant number of voucher program beneficiaries (VPBs) were absent during a monitoring visit and that their absence “cannot be satisfactorily explained by the school officials.”
The COA said there were also VPBs billed under a specific school campus, unit or delivery mode but “attended classes in a different school campus/unit/delivery mode.”
Worse, there were VPBs listed as “enrolled” but have not attended classes since the start of the semester.
The COA said there were also VPBs listed multiple times in the same school or in different voucher program-participating senior high schools.
The COA said a review and cross-validation of the list of VPBs from the Private Education Assistance Committee administration portal also showed 39 VPBs bearing identical names but assigned different learner reference numbers (LRNs).
Meanwhile, the COA said 722 VPBs with identical names and LRNs were found to have been “listed and billed more than once in the same school year – either within the same school or across different VP-participating SHS.”
The COA said these instances are indications of “ghost students” or those “whose existence or participation in the program cannot be reasonably substantiated.”
Furthermore, the COA said the instances of double-billing or multiple entries for identical VPBs resulted in overpayments amounting to P868,500.
“These lapses not only compromise the integrity of the program but may result in the misallocation of public funds intended primarily to support underprivileged learners,” the COA said.
Furthermore, the COA said that for SY 2023-2024, there were 3,356 SHS students granted with vouchers totaling P62.87 million, despite being enrolled in prestigious or high-tuition private schools with annual tuition fees ranging from P100,000 to as high as P317,314.
The COA said this defeated the primary purpose of the GASTPE-SHS VP, which provides financial assistance to indigent SHS students enrolled in private schools.
“The presence of VPBs in these prestigious or high-tuition private schools, where the annual tuition reportedly reach as high as P317,314.00, raises concerns regarding the equity and appropriateness of public fund allocation under the SHS Voucher program,” the COA said.
“Considering that the government subsidy covers only P22,500 which is a small fraction of such high tuition fees, it is reasonable to infer that some of these learners have the financial capacity to afford the substantial remaining balance without the need for government assistance,” the COA added.
Vice President Sara Duterte was the concurrent secretary of DepEd from June 30, 2022 until her resignation on July 19, 2024. She was replaced by former senator and current DepEd Secretary Sonny Angara.
