The Philippine Commission on Higher Education (CHED) has directed all state universities and colleges (SUCs) as well as local universities and colleges (LUCs) to halt the delivery of the senior high school (SHS) programme beginning SY 2024-2025. SUCs are established by the state through Congress and operate by means of government subsidy, whereas LUCs are run by local authorities.

In a Memorandum dated 18 December 2023, CHED Chairman Prospero de Vera III said that the provisional authority of SUCs and LUCs to offer the senior high school programme was limited to the K to 12 transition period which lasted from 2016 to 2021.

De Vera recalled that both the Commission and DepEd have, over the last two years, reminded public universities to “wind down” their enrolment for senior high school so they could re-shift their focus back to providing higher education programmes.

SUCs and LUCs were initially mandated to offer the SHS programme as the additional two years under the K to 12 education system would result in excess capacity and low enrolment in higher education institutions. With the transitionary period complete and public universities at full capacity, De Vera said there was no longer any legal basis between the DepEd and CHED to fund the programme.

Based on latest data from the DepEd, there are currently 17,751 Grade 11 students enrolled in SUCs and LUCs, and over two million enrolled in Grade 12. The DepEd is slated to map out nearby public and private schools offering SHS in preparation for the influx of transferees coming from SUCs and LUCs. In the meantime, it said it would extend the provision of vouchers, i.e., subsidies, until 2025 to assist the Grade 11 students who could be displaced. De Vera said Grade 12 students should also be allowed to finish the academic year.

Lawmakers have recommended an assessment of the current capacity and status of facilities in public and private schools as they anticipate an increase in the number of transferees in the coming years.

Although the recent change may cause slight disruptions to the continuity of the basic education system over the immediate term, we do not anticipate any significant ramifications on international education stakeholders, including the UK market, given the contingency measures being set forth by the DepEd. Students will still be able to finish their programme in other institutions, i.e., public and private schools, outside of SUCs and LUCs. With the re-transferring of high school students, SUCs and LUCs will have increased capacity to take in more students in higher education, boosting prospects for overseas and transnational education.