“Classrooms take time to build, and every school year lost means another generation starting at a disadvantage”
One encouraging sign education remains a national priority is the early filing of House Bill 4, the proposed Private Basic Education Vouchers Assistance Act, in the 20th Congress.
Filed by Speaker Martin Romualdez with Tingog Party-list Representatives Jude Acidre and Yedda Romualdez, this measure addresses overcrowded public school classrooms and the unequal access to quality education.
In his most recent SONA, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. pledged to build 40,000 more classrooms before his term ends.
But classrooms take time to build, and every school year lost means another generation starting at a disadvantage.
HB 4 offers a practical, cost-effective solution—mobilizing private school capacity to accommodate learners from public schools, especially in congested cities and underserved areas.
This is a stronger, institutionalized version of what has worked through the Senior High School Voucher Program and Educational Service Contracting scheme.
Studies show that most participating private schools deliver quality education at a lower per-student cost than public schools, with 87 percent of SHS voucher schools and 82 percent of their students operating below public sector costs.
Private school students also consistently outperform public school peers in PISA and NAT assessments. HB 4 builds on this success by expanding voucher coverage to kindergarten, elementary, and secondary students in recognized private schools, starting with early grades in SY 2026–2027.
Alongside HB 4, House Bill 2029, or the Complementarity in Education Act, seeks to operationalize the Constitutional principle that public and private education are essential partners in achieving quality, accessible learning for all.
Filed by Rep. Mercedes Alvarez, HB 2029 recognizes the public sector alone cannot meet the growing and diverse educational needs of our population.
It outlines collaboration mechanisms—portable vouchers, congestion alleviation programs, public-private partnerships in school management, and contracting unused private school facilities for public students.
It also calls for integrated data systems to help families make informed choices, ensuring funding follows the learner.
The Private Education Assistance Committee will be pivotal, as it already manages key voucher and subsidy programs with proven efficiency.
Both measures aim to make education a matter of equity and choice, not geography or income. They recognize that every vacant seat in a private school classroom is a potential lifeline for a child’s education and reject the outdated notion that private education is a luxury.
An important provision in HB 4 is the Teachers’ Salary Subsidy Fund, which addresses the wage gap between private and public school teachers.
This is not just fairness but a strategic investment in quality.
Supported and fairly compensated teachers are more likely to stay, innovate, and mentor the next generation. HB 2029 reinforces this by requiring education agencies to address imbalances in teacher pay that could weaken either sector.
The synergy between these bills offers an opportunity to reshape our education system.
HB 4 addresses immediate access issues by scaling up vouchers, while HB 2029 lays the policy foundation to make complementarity a lasting feature.
Together, they institutionalize cooperation instead of competition, focusing on expanding opportunities for learners.
They also embed accountability—through quality assurance frameworks, performance assessments, and public reporting—to ensure public funds spent in private schools deliver measurable learning gains.
The fiscal case is strong: portable subsidies targeted at students can deliver more value-for-money than channeling all new funds into building and staffing public schools.
HB 2029 envisions gradually increasing the share of annual budget increases for education administered through student-financing instruments until at least half of new funding can be used flexibly across both sectors.
This strengthens public education by relieving pressure on resources and allowing it to focus on improving learning outcomes.
The urgency is clear.
Our PISA results continue to lag, showing that the crisis in basic education is about both access and quality.
The longer we delay reforms that are actionable and structurally sound, the deeper the gap between our learners and their global peers will grow. HB 4 and HB 2029 offer a pragmatic, evidence-based way forward rooted in the constitutional vision of a truly complementary education system.
The 20th Congress has the means to turn a classroom crisis into an opportunity for learning equity.
By passing these measures, lawmakers will ease the strain on public schools and unlock the full capacity of the nation’s education system as a unified force for national development.
This is the moment to align every sector’s strengths toward building an education system that equips every learner to thrive in a rapidly evolving world.
