DepEd welcomes increased funding for government aid and grant programs – Manila Bulletin

Following the approval of the proposed substantial increase in Government Aid and Grant Schemes (GAS) under its Tier 1 budget, the Department of Education (DepEd), on Thursday May 24, said that it was now better equipped to fulfill its improvement mandate and expand access to quality education for middle and high schools.

DepEd, in a press release, expressed gratitude to the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), as well as the national government, for their “unwavering support” of the Department’s voucher programs, particularly the vouchers for high schools (SHS) and education. Contractualization of services (ESC) under GAS.

“On the approved Tier 1 level of 626.18 billion pesos to the DepEd by the DBM, in accordance with the National Budget Memorandum No. 142 [also known as] “Budget call for fiscal year 2023,” the vice president of SHS secured approval for 39.33 billion pesos, which covers 1,132,155 voucher recipients for the 2023-2024 school year. Meanwhile, ESC has secured an approved budget of 11.05 billion pesos which covers 1,031,193 ESC grant recipients,” DepEd said.

With these approved funding increases, DepEd has assured the public that they will now be able to improve and expand access to quality middle and high school education.

“This is done by assisting private education institutions by making payments to private schools on their bills filed and claimed in previous years. In addition, the agency is also financially able to make full payments to affected private schools within a fiscal year,” DepEd added.

DepEd then pledged to continuously implement its voucher programs “effectively and efficiently”.

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