P65 M recovered in DepEd’s crackdown on SHS voucher program anomaly

The Department of Education (DepEd) on Wednesday, March 26 said it has recovered approximately P65 million from 54 private schools involved in irregularities related to the Senior High School Voucher Program (SHS-VP) for the school years (SY) 2021-2022 and 2022-2023.

- ELLAINE DE VERA-RUIZ

Following an investigation, 38 schools have fully refunded the government, and two have made partial refunds.

However, 14 schools have yet to return the questioned funds, prompting DepEd to issue final demand letters to ensure full compliance.

DepEd also pointed out that further investigation is required to determine if these irregularities amounted to fraud.

For SY 2023-2024, 12 schools are under investigation by DepEd's Investigation Division.

In addition, three schools flagged by the Government Assistance and Subsidies Service (GASS) have been referred to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) for a parallel investigation.