COA: DepEd's SHS voucher program included ghost students

The Commission on Audit (COA) has flagged the inclusion of “ghost students” in the Department of Education (DepEd)’s Senior High School Voucher Program or SHS-VP.

- By ELIZABETH MARCELO

In its 2024 annual audit report on DepEd, the COA said there were several instances noted by the audit team indicating that ghost students were indeed included in the Government Assistance to Students and Teachers in Private Education (GASTPE) – SHS-VP for school years (SYs) 2022-2023 and 2023-2024.

For one, the COA said a significant number of voucher program beneficiaries (VPBs) were absent during a monitoring visit and that their absence “cannot be satisfactorily explained by the school officials.”

The COA said there were also VPBs billed under a specific school campus, unit or delivery mode but “attended classes in a different school campus/unit/delivery mode.”

Worse, there were VPBs listed as “enrolled” but have not attended classes since the start of the semester.