Education is a monumental challenge. The objective — ensuring millions of young students across the country learn — is daunting. Education is a fundamental right and a nation-building tool. Quality education is vital to personal development, societal progress, and economic growth.
But the public education system in the Philippines is riddled with challenges. Aside from the issues of the quality of instruction and access to the best sources of educational resources, the Philippines also has to grapple with the more basic concerns of lack of classrooms, poor school facilities, and the dearth of teachers. Overcrowding in public schools has prevented our students from maximizing their education experience.
This is the impetus for the creation of the Government Assistance to Students and Teachers in Private Education (GASTPE) in 1989. GASTPE’s role in filling the gaps in public education through assistance to the private education system has been well documented. Alleviating the strain on public schools while maintaining high educational standards has been the program’s key contribution to the nation.
I saw this firsthand during my own stint as undersecretary at the Department of Education.
GASTPE, a government initiative that provides financial assistance to students and teachers in private schools, includes several mechanisms such as Education Service Contracting (ESC), the Senior High School Voucher Program (SHSVP), and the Teachers’ Salary Subsidy. In the last 35 years, the program has assisted over 12.45 million student-grantees. Last year alone, some 3,600 schools and beneficiaries were served.
Specifically, GASTPE enables private schools to absorb excess students, reducing the rampant overcrowding in public schools. Private schools can accommodate nearly 900,000 more learners with resource optimization. Aside from this, the program is also able to address regional disparities because they address underserved areas.
Finally, the program has a component that funds training and development of teachers to enable them to adapt to evolving educational needs. For example, the technological demands during the pandemic have continued and have necessitated teachers be more flexible in using a mix of traditional and non-traditional teaching methods. Through these, they would be able to connect with their students better. Private schools have also been given assistance as they transitioned to blended learning during the difficult days of the pandemic.
Over the years, graduates helped by the GASTPE program often emerge as community and industry leaders, able to combine their lessons from classroom instruction and their extra-curricular experiences to become part of the solution in their own spheres.
Now comes the logical question: Why not expand the reach of this worthy education program so that it could also benefit elementary school children and more underserved areas in the archipelago? Private schools could be a powerful force in providing quality education in rural areas. Such a synergy is a form of public-private partnership that could help address our systemic educational challenges. Indeed, GASTPE should be a national initiative, and younger learners should have access to quality basic education.
Several private schools have issued statements to appeal to the government to bring the benefits of GASTPE to younger students. For instance, the 118 member Association of Christian Schools, Colleges and Universities (ACSCU) recently released a statement affirming the benefits of GASTPE and asking the government to expand it.
“As we look to the future, ACSCU envisions an expanded GASTPE that reaches even more students, particularly in rural and underserved areas. To realize this vision, we need the continued partnership of our government and a strengthened collaboration with private and public educational stakeholders. By working together, we can make GASTPE more responsive to the shifting educational landscape and ensure that the program continues to support not only students and teachers but also the broader mission of Christian education in national development,” said Dr. Betty Cernol-McCann, association President and also the President of Silliman University.
There is a proverb that says, “It takes a village to raise a child.” We can tweak it a bit to show that the same holds in educating a Filipino child and preparing him or her for the future. A collaborative approach to education must ensure equal access to quality learning. The government, private schools, and stakeholders must come together to extend and expand a sound initiative so that it benefits more young Filipinos.
We understand that our policymakers now have to deal with the noise in politics that threatens to drown out persistent issues in education. But they must not lose focus. Personalities come and go, but the concerns in our education system and the need to empower our teachers and students alike will always be there. Improving access to and the quality of education is a goal we must constantly pursue. It is not only the government that bears this responsibility but all stakeholders including private schools, civil society, parents, and communities.
GASTPE is a program that has been tested by time — we should make sure its benefits reach more young Filipinos in succeeding years.
Victor Andres “Dindo” C. Manhit is the president of the Stratbase ADR Institute.