Senator Alan Peter Cayetano on Thursday filed a measure seeking to reform the government’s education subsidy system by giving students more meaningful school choices and supporting low-income families seeking to send their children to quality private schools.

Filed on July 10, 2025, ?Senate Bill No. 422 or The Learner’s Choice (TLC) in Private Basic Education Act of 2025, Cayetano proposes a unified, learner-centered voucher system for Kindergarten to Grade 12 — one that replaces outdated programs like the Educational Service Contracting (ESC) scheme under the Expanded Government Assistance to Students and Teachers in Private Education (GASTPE).

“The State shall operationalize the principle of complementarity by institutionalizing a unified, rationalized, and learner-centered framework for government assistance to learners and teachers in private basic education,” Cayetano, who previously chaired Senate Committee on Higher, Technical and Vocational Education, said in the bill’s explanatory note.

The bill is inspired by the Taguig Learner’s Certificate (TLC) program, a local initiative recognized in the Year 2 Report of Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM 2), which Cayetano also co-chaired, for promoting learner choice and complementarity between public and private schools.

The proposed TLC system introduces portable education vouchers that eligible learners from kindergarten to SHS can use to enroll in any DepEd-recognized private school. Unlike the current GASTPE program, in which subsidies are tied to specific schools, the TLC voucher is held by the student — giving families the freedom to choose where to enroll, similar to how the SHS voucher system works.

These vouchers will help cover tuition and learning materials, and may be supplemented by local government units (LGUs) or private sponsors if needed.

“To ensure equity and social justice, this assistance shall be targeted, prioritizing the underprivileged and most vulnerable learners,” Cayetano said.

Top priority will be given to learners from low-income households in DepEd-identified congested public schools, followed by other students in overcrowded schools and learners from poor families who need financial support to stay in private schools. Alternative Learning System (ALS) completers who are reentering formal education are also automatically eligible.

To help families make informed decisions, the DepEd will publish a public database of participating schools, listing their tuition fees, program tracks, and performance indicators.

“Learners, their parents, parent-substitutes, or guardians shall have the freedom to select among participating private basic education institutions based on factors such as program offerings, quality of instruction, school culture, location, and affordability,” the bill states.

The measure also enhances the Teachers’ Salary Subsidy Fund and In-Service Training Fund for teachers in private schools, to align their compensation with prevailing market conditions, and which are both tied to performance and quality standards.

A dedicated Bureau of Private Education will be created within the DepEd to manage and monitor the program, with the option to tap qualified private partners to assist in its implementation subject to accountability rules and Commission on Audit (COA) oversight.

The bill urges LGUs to align their scholarship programs with the voucher system by making them portable across schools nationwide, with those that comply being recognized under the Seal of Good Local Governance.

For Cayetano, improving education means more than infrastructure or funding as it requires acknowledging the shared role of public and private schools and giving families real choices to achieve better outcomes.

“The collective, balanced and sustained use of public and private education through healthy competition guided by the protection of the public interest will lead to better learning outcomes for Filipinos,” he said.