FACT CHECK: Post on DepEd student cash assistance is fake

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The Department of Education says the post circulating online — coinciding with the opening of the new academic year — is fake

Claim: The Department of Education (DepEd) is providing cash assistance to students in time for the start of the new school year this 2025.

Rating: FALSE

Why we fact-checked this: On June 13, the Facebook group “Dswd Educational Assistance” shared a supposed DepEd announcement claiming that students would receive cash aid from the government.

The amount of cash aid students are supposed to receive varies by grade level:

• Elementary – P2,000
• Junior High School – P4,000
• Senior High School – P6,000
• College – P8,000

The post, which uses the DepEd logo to appear legitimate, claims that school supplies and uniforms would be provided. It also included a link for interested applicants to register for the supposed cash aid.

As of writing, the post has been shared over 17,000 times and has nearly 5,000 reactions. 

The facts: DepEd media relations chief Dennis Legaspi said that the post is fake.

Although the education department does not provide cash aid as claimed in the fake post, it does offer a Senior High School Voucher Program that provides subsidies for students enrolling in private schools. However, the subsidy is sent directly to the schools, not given as cash to the students.

The fake announcement surfaced three days before the new academic year began on Monday, June 16, with some 27 million students starting classes in over 47,000 public schools nationwide.

Fake link: The supposed registration link for the cash assistance program is also fake. It does not lead users to the DepEd website or any official government site, but to a product page on an online shopping site.

Clicking on suspicious links and providing sensitive information through these links may expose users to security risks, including potential phishing attempts. (READ: Phishing 101: How to spot and avoid phishing)

Previous fact-checks: Rappler has debunked other false claims about supposed financial aid from various government agencies:

• FACT CHECK: No universal P11,000 pension for all senior citizens
• FACT CHECK: No P5,000 cash aid from Malasakit Centers
• FACT CHECK: Post linking to CHED-UniFAST scholarship application is fake
• FACT CHECK: No P12,000 pension for all senior citizens
• FACT CHECK: Negros Oriental’s Sagarbarrias didn’t say Duterte rally attendees won’t receive cash aid  
• FACT CHECK: Registration links for education cash aid lead to shopping sites   

– Bonz Magsambol/Rappler.com

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