(Photo from Pexels)
MANILA- Department of Education (DepEd) Secretary Sonny Angara said on Tuesday that DepEd will file a dozen charges against “ghost students” after the Commission on Audit (COA) found irregularities in the Senior High School Voucher program from 2022 to 2024.
According to Angara, DepEd currently has seven pending cases relevant to the said subsidy program, and another 12 are under investigation at the DepEd level. He said that once they complete the investigation, they will immediately file the cases in court.
“Nag-file kami ng cases several months ago, actually. I think, isang dosena pa iyong under investigation na malapit nang i-file (We have filed cases several months ago, actually. I think, there’s a dozen under investigation and we will file cases soon),” Angara told reporters.
Angara said that one of the reasons anomalous transactions in the voucher program were not flagged in the past was the lack of a safety net.
“Dati, binabayaran kaagad, ina-advance iyong bayad. Ngayon, tinitingnan talaga iyong resulta at kung naka-enroll tapos iyong learner number, at nag-i-institute tayo ng mga safeguards both at the school level and at the DepEd level (In the past, we immediately paid; we paid in advance. Now, we really see the results if beneficiaries really enrolled, including the learner number, and we instituted safeguards both at the school level and at the DepEd level),” Angara said.
“So, binabangga namin iyong mga database natin na dati hindi ginagawa (So, we compared database that we did not do in the past)” he added.
The Senior High School (SHS) Voucher Program (SHS VP) is DepEd’s financial assistance program that provides vouchers or subsidies to qualified Grade 10 completers to help them enroll in their preferred non-DepEd or private senior high school.
It can be recalled that COA on Monday called the attention of DepEd after it discovered that the education department included ghost students and ineligible beneficiaries on its Senior High School Voucher Program, particularly from 2022 to 2024.
In retrospect, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. appointed Angara as DepEd Secretary in mid-2024, following Vice President Sara Duterte’s resignation from the post.
