What we know so far: ‘Ghost students’ in DepEd’s SHS voucher program

1 month ago 13

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

What is the Department of Education's senior high school voucher program, and what is the corruption scheme about?

The Department of Education (DepEd) is once again caught in a corruption controversy after a “ghost student” scheme was uncovered in its senior high school (SHS) voucher program. Had the scheme not been stopped, it could have cost the government an estimated P52 million.

Education Secretary Sonny Angara made public the DepEd’s discovery on February 17, saying that the department was probing 12 private schools, classified under nine schools division offices (SDOs), that exploited the program.

“Any form of misuse of public funds intended for critical education programs will not be tolerated. This investigation is a necessary step as we pursue the truth and hold accountable those responsible,” Angara said.

What is the SHS voucher program?

It is a government financial subsidy program for qualified senior high school students (Grades 11 and 12). It provides assistance in the form of vouchers ranging from P8,750 to P22,500 per year, which are paid directly to the student’s chosen private school.

Who are qualified for the program?

According to the DepEd, these students are qualified to get the SHS voucher:

Students who completed junior high school or JHS (Grades 7 to 10) in public schools operated by the DepEd, or in public and private schools “not directly operated” by the DepEd but granted by the department “with a permit or government recognition to operate,” excluding homeschooling and Philippine overseas schools
Students who completed Grade 10 through the Alternative Learning System or by passing the Presentation Portfolio Assessment
Students who completed Grade 10 as passers of the Philippine Education Placement Test

The DepEd refers to qualified students as Grade 10 completers. They are further divided into automatically qualified learners and voucher applicants.

Automatically qualified learners, or those who do not need to apply for vouchers, are the following:

All Grade 10 completers from the preceding school year (SY) in public schools
All Grade 10 completers from the preceding SY in private schools who are Education Service Contracting or ESC grantees. ESC is a separate government financial assistance program for students in private JHS.

Voucher applicants, or students who are not automatically eligible for the program, will need to apply through the online portal ovap.peac.org.ph.

How DepEd flagged ‘ghost students’

This alleged corruption scheme at the DepEd is not new. The Commission on Audit already flagged 115 SHS students being deemed “ghost students” during SY 2016-2017 for receiving vouchers twice.

The 12 private schools involved in the DepEd’s latest investigation had “questionable claims” during SY 2023-2024. According to a document obtained by Rappler, the department found these claims when it conducted validation procedures.

“Upon validation of the questionable claims, we did not process nor release any payments and investigated the schools. Because of our validation process, we have averted a potential defraudment of P52,571,500,” the document read.

In addition to the averted P52-million defraudment involving the 12 private schools, the DepEd reported potential fraud of P245 million for SY 2023-2024, involving 2,836 students and discrepancies across 1,331 schools.

For the current school year, after implementing a two-step verification process, the department uncovered discrepancies that could cost the government P23.9 million, affecting 1,300 students. The DepEd is still validating whether these discrepancies are also linked to “ghost students.”

What are the sources of corruption?

The DepEd has identified the following potential sources of corruption in the SHS voucher program:

Students in billing statements found enrolled in public schools
Students listed in private schools different from the billing schools
Purchase of report cards from public schools for voucher availability
Temporary use of Learner Reference Numbers for public school students for billing purposes

How validation is done

The DepEd is doing these layers of validation for the SHS voucher claims:

First layer: Use of the application programming interface involving the two systems — Voucher Management System or VMS and Learner’s Information System or LIS
Second layer: Once the billing statement is received, the Government Assistance and Subsidies Service runs the billing statements again in the LIS
Third layer: Post billing by the Private Education Assistance Committee (PEAC)

PEAC is a third-party group that the DepEd contracted to administer the voucher program.

Following the discovery of fraud, the education department vowed to revisit proposals for establishing recognition of SHS private schools and to enhance its LIS to ensure that histories of students are properly maintained in the system.

The DepEd also said it would strengthen its validation process and conduct “more frequent” on-site inspections of private schools participating in the voucher program.

In a chance interview on February 19, Angara said that if the DepEd finds its personnel liable for corruption, they would face the consequences.

“Nagtataka ako bakit walang napaparusahan dito. Sasampol kami ng mga tao rito…’yung talagang may pattern ng mga nag te-take advantage at nananamantala ng sistema,” he said.

(I wonder why no one has been punished here. We’ll show them…those who really have a pattern of taking advantage of and exploiting the system.)

In recent years, the DepEd found itself at the center of a corruption controversy over its “overpriced and outdated” laptops for teachers. The issue was the subject of Senate hearings in 2022. (READ: Why COA flagged DepEd for P2.4 billion worth of ‘outdated’ laptops)

A separate Rappler investigation revealed that DepEd laptops were being resold in the market at significantly lower prices. Meanwhile, another Rappler report uncovered that DepEd learning materials were left to rot in warehouses due to unpaid logistics fees. Read the articles below.

– Rappler.com

Read Entire Article