The document discusses the Government Assistance to Student and Teachers in Private Education (GASTPE) program in the Philippines, specifically the Education Service Contracting (ESC) scheme. The ESC program allows public schools to contract private schools to accommodate students who would otherwise not have access to free secondary education due to overcrowding in public schools. Over 370,000 students currently benefit from the ESC program. The program aims to address issues of congestion and quality in public schools by utilizing space and superior academics in private schools.

1. Educational Service
Contracting
Abraham Felipe

2. Dr. Abraham I. Felipe
• an educator and social psychologist, is the
president of the Fund for Assistance to
Private Education.

3. Scholarship
• award of financial aid for a student to
further education.
• awarded on various criteria usually
reflecting the values and purposes of the
donor or founder of the award.

4. Types of Scholarships
• Merit-based
• Need-based
• Student-specific

5. GASTPE (Government
Assistance to Student and
Teachers in Private Education)
•
The Government through the
Education Service Contracting (ESC)
Scheme and the Tuition Fee
Supplement (TFS) has entered into a
contract with the private schools in
order to accommodate those who
otherwise will not be able to avail of
free public secondary education. As
of January 15, 1999, the ESC has
374,918 student beneficiaries in
1,122 participating schools, while the
TSF has 162,966 grantees in 638
participating schools.

6. What is ESC?
• Unlike other scholarships, there is no
grade requirement other than the grade
required to pass in the public schools.
• It is just like when a public school student
in a private school setting.
• It has 4 regular players:
• Government- sponsor
• Student-recipient
• Public School
• Private school

7. Why the need for it?
• Public Schools
• Congestion
• Quality
• Not being cost-effective
• Private Schools
• Liquidity problem

8. Congestion
• During the Marcos era, the budget had been blamed for the
lagging infrastructure.
• It was also during this time that public secondary education
was made free- thus, resulting in a surge in the student
population.

9. Quality
• Studies of the NCEE confirmed that
private schools were academically far
more superior.
• They abolished the NCEE instead.

10. Liquidity of the Private Schools
• The free scheme in the public
schools, made them vis a vis unable to
compete with the public schools.

11. Solution
• The private schools believed they can help
in the congestion and quality problem.
• Public schools was more than willing to
decongest classrooms and to uplift quality.

12. STEPS
1. Curriculum should be certified by the MECS.
2. Public High School Principal should certify that
his/her school was overcrowded. The applicant
would “otherwise-have-been-admitted”
3. Private schools must accept the “otherwise-
have-been-admitted” students without
additional qualifications. An applicant could
only be refused admission if the private
schools is itself overcrowded.
4. An applicant cannot be kicked out. But can be
retained.

13. Interegnum
• Soon after the FAPE was designated to
implement the ESC, many problems
surfaced, such as:
• It was unacceptable to many principals.
The premium was on the size of school
population. The bigger the school
was, the more senior principals were
assigned there, such that it was a post
of prestige.
• In due time the DECS took over the
implementation.

14. • After three years, the program was
returned to the FAPE, and it was already
different.
• The recipients were of the following
types:
• Endorsed by politicians
• Endorsed by Education officials
• Endorsed by private school officials
• Private school students, planning to
drop out because of the high tuition
fees.
• Walk-ins from public schools

15. At the Present
• The present ESC is suited for a
scholarship program.
• The GASTPE was implemented-it gave
the private schools deregulation of tuition
fees.
• Thus, tuitions substantially increased.

16. The Preferred Future
1. No evidence that substantial support was
given by post- Marcos administrations.
When the lions’ share was given to the
Education, most of it was for the salaries
of teachers and State Universities.
2. From the way present recipients are now
chosen, most do not resemble the
originally intended recipients of low socio
economic background.