Short answer. A solo parent and their children are entitled to educational benefits: scholarship programs in basic, tertiary, and technical or skills education, plus nonformal education programs. Section 9 of RA 8972 grants these, now carried forward and expanded under the Expanded Solo Parents Welfare Act, Republic Act 11861 (2022).
What the law says
Scholarship programs for qualified solo parents and their children in institutions of basic, tertiary and technical/skills education; and (2) Nonformal education programs appropriate for solo parents and their children.
RA 8972, Section 9 — Scholarships And Nonformal Education. Read the full provision →
The two educational benefits
Section 9 of Republic Act 8972, the Solo Parents' Welfare Act, gives a solo parent and their children two kinds of educational help. The law directs the education agencies to provide Scholarship programs for qualified solo parents and their children in institutions of basic, tertiary and technical/skills education. That covers schooling at every level, from grade school through college and vocational or skills training. It adds Nonformal education programs appropriate for solo parents and their children, which reach those who cannot follow a regular classroom schedule. The benefit is aimed at both the parent and the children, not one or the other.
Who provides them and who qualifies
The duty falls on the government's three education arms. The section names The DECS, CHED and TESDA as the agencies that shall provide the following benefits and privileges, covering, respectively, basic education, higher education, and technical-vocational training. Note the word "qualified" in the scholarship clause: the benefit is not automatic simply because one is a solo parent. Eligibility follows the criteria the agencies set, and a solo parent normally establishes status through the local social welfare office. The law frames these as scholarships and programs, not a cash handout, so they attach to actual enrollment and study.
The law that governs today
This benefit must be read with later law. Republic Act 8972 has been superseded and broadened by the Expanded Solo Parents Welfare Act, Republic Act 11861, enacted in 2022. That newer law keeps educational assistance for solo parents and their children and expands the wider package of solo-parent support, including discounts and other forms of help. So a solo parent today should look to RA 11861 and its implementing rules for the current, fuller list of entitlements, while the scholarship and nonformal-education benefits described here remain part of that continuing scheme. The idea, that education should not stop because a parent is raising a family alone, carries through.
What the section does not promise
It is worth being clear about the limits. The section commits the agencies to create scholarship and nonformal-education programs; it does not itself fix the amounts, the number of slots, or the exact qualifying rules. The law ends by directing that The DECS, CHED and TESDA shall promulgate rules and regulations for the proper implementation of this program. So the concrete details, how to apply, what documents to show, and how much support is given, come from those implementing rules and the agencies' current guidelines, not from the statute's short text alone.