MANILA, Feb. 28 -- The Department of Education (DepEd) has posted a 97 percent utilization rate of its 2024 budget amounting to about PHP40 billion for the Expanded Government Assistance to Students and Teachers in Private Education (E-GASTPE).

E-GASTPE is DepEd's largest private school scholarship program, especially on the expansion of the existing Educational Service Contracting (ESC) scheme.

During an inquiry by the Senate Committee on Basic Education on Wednesday, DepEd's Government Assistance and Subsidies Office Director Tara Rama said their office is waiting for other schools to submit their billing statements to fully use the budget.

"We're already at 97 percent of our utilization because some of the schools - ito na lang po '...