The House Committee on Basic Education and Culture is looking to revive the Bureau of Private Schools under the Department of Education (DepEd) to address the problems and concerns of private education institutions in the country. Committee chair and Pasig City Rep. Roman Romulo on Monday proposed the establishment of the bureau within the DepEd during panel deliberations on the measure seeking to expand the application of government assistance to students, teachers, and schools in the private basic education (GASTPE). Romulo said the bill shall be refined to include the creation of the bureau to attend to the needs of private schools and strengthen their complementary role to the public school system. "We want to bring back the Bureau of Private Schools para may consent (on the expansion of GASTPE), doon mako-consult 'yung private schools natin (so that there would be consent, and we could consult our private schools there)," he said. The panel deliberated on the unnumbered substitute bill to House Bill Nos. 928, 1723, 5589, 1585, 7666, which would expand the existing financial assistance program to cover 13 years of basic education, in the kindergarten, elementary, junior high school and senior high school in all private basic education institutions that implement the voucher system. Romulo, author of HB 928, explained that schools would be qualified based on the quality of education they provide, adding that student examinations would be used to determine quality. He said Section 8 of the bill on the 'Basic Education Voucher Program' would also be revised to clarify that the voucher amount and tuition increases would be subject to 70 percent to be allocated to salaries, wages, allowances and other benefits of teaching and non-teaching personnel; and 20 percent to the improvement and modernization of infrastructure and other facilities.
Source: Philippines News Agency
