BONGAO, Tawi-tawi
--- Scholars
of the Expanded Student Grants-in-Aid Program for Poverty Alleviation
(ESGP-PA) of the Department of Social
Welfare and Development in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (DSWD-ARMM)
gathered recently for the first-ever “Student Congress” held at the Beachside
Inn, this town.
The ESGP-PA is under the government’s
Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program or 4Ps.
Bai Mohara Biruar Mokamad-Amilhasan, ESGP-PA focal
person of DSWD-ARMM, said the participants were composed of the program
scholars coming from the Tawi-tawi College of Technology and Oceanography
(TCTO) and Tawi-tawi Regional Agricultural College (TRAC).
“It was a day of fun and stress debriefing
for the 154 scholars from TCTO and another 154 from TRAC. These students
enjoyed our various activities, Horoscope (Getting To Know Each Other),
Building Bridge, Longest Line, Spider Web, Water Relay, Meeting of Minds, Into
The Loop, Caterpillar, and Brain Teaser,” said Amilhasan.
Alminda G. Ladaja, 4Ps regional program coordinator,
said ESGP-PA is significant for it is an educational grant which gives priority
to the 4Ps beneficiaries by providing them opportunity to get higher college
education and increase their chance to land better employment in the future.
“The ESGP-PA provides academic grants for the
tertiary education of poor but deserving students, giving priority to the
Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program beneficiaries. The students shall be
enrolled in state universities and colleges to take up courses which are
aligned with government key growth areas,” said Ladja.
Under the program, grantees of this
scholarship shall be enrolled in state colleges and universities (SUCs) with accredited
courses aligned with the priorities of the government. A student grantee shall
be entitled to a maximum grant of P60,000 per academic year broken down as
follows: (1) P20,000 per academic year
for tuition, other fees, and academic and extracurricular expenses; (2) P5,000 per academic year for textbook and
other learning materials; and (3) P3,500 per month for 10 months for food,
lodging, clothing, transportation, health or medical needs, basic school
supplies, and other related costs.
As one of the requirements, applicants to
this program shall enroll in one of the priority programs identified by Commission
on Higher Education (CHED).
Hadja Pombaen Karon-Kader, assistant regional
secretary of DSWD-ARMM, said the ESGP-PA aims to address poverty alleviation by
increasing the number of graduates in higher education among poor households.
“We would want to let these graduates be
employed in good landing jobs in order to lift their families out of poverty,”
said Kader.
Accordingly, the program is implemented by
the CHED in partnership with the DSWD-ARMM, Department of Budget and Management,
Philippine Association of State Universities and Colleges, and the Department
of Labor and Employment. (GILMHAR A. LAO
/ MINDANAO EXPOSE’)
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