A total of 43,312 learners in private schools in the Cordillera region have received tuition subsidies from the government through the Education Service Contracting (ESC) program and the Senior High School Voucher Program (SHS VP), the regional office of the Department of Education (DepEd) said Tuesday.

Dr. Estela Cariño, DepEd-Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) director, said in a report that 88 schools benefited from the ESC grant for School Year (SY) 2025-2026.

Learners who received PHP223.71 million in subsidies for the current school year number 7,321 in Grade 7; 5,916 (Grade 8); 4,947 (Grade 9); and 5,464 (Grade 10).

Meanwhile, 96 beneficiary schools with 9,858 learners in Grade 11 and 9,806 in Grade 12 received a total SHS VP subsidy of PHP3239.29 million.

Both the SHS VP and the ESC programs are under the Government Assistance to Students and Teachers in Private Education (GASTPE) program of the department, which aims to assist parents of learners who cannot be accommodated anymore in public schools.

About 1,269 teachers in 88 private schools in the region also received the Teacher Salary Subsidy (TSS), an initiative under the GASTPE.

The number of the program’s beneficiary schools continued to increase in the previous school years, since it began in SY 2021-2022 with only 80 beneficiary schools.

“The TSS program in CAR showed steady growth, reflecting consistent expansion in private school support and teacher coverage under the GASTPE. This upward trend suggests sustained demand and policy commitment to strengthening private education workforce stability in the region.” Cariño said in an interview on Tuesday.

“The government came up with this program to assist the parents, as well as the DepEd, to prevent over-enrolment in public schools and encourage the parents to bring their children to private schools.”

She also said that the GASTPE is less costly, considering that there is a shortage of classrooms and other education materials in the public schools, aside from teacher requirements.

“The private schools are a big help to the government, which is why the government is giving back to them so that they can continue to provide the other services that should have been done by the government,” she said.

She added that many public schools face major resource gaps.

Data shows that in the Cordillera, 119 schools in the region are without electricity; 1,682 schools lack computer units; 1,391 schools lack laptops; 3,469 schools have classroom deficit; 1,424 schools are without library; 1,420 are without school clinic; 254 schools are without water supply; 478 schools are without Internet connection; 1,366 schools are without science laboratories; and 142 schools are without TVL (technical, vocational and livelihood) equipment and personnel needs.

Cariño said the government subsidy, especially during the coronavirus pandemic, became significant, considering the financial constraints faced by private learning institutions, many of which were forced to shut down.

“We are thankful to the private sector for doing a part of the service that the DepEd must be doing; we consider them as our partner in education, and we are hopeful that they will also continue to help the government prepare the youth through education,” she said. (PNA)