Thai cement company opens scholarship to college students
SIAM Cement Group (SCG), a leading business conglomerate in Southeast Asia which sends 300 Filipino high school students to school yearly, has opened its scholarship program to 10 Filipino college students this year.
Phaskorn Buranawit, SCG Philippines director, said SCG, through its “Sharing the Dream” program, the company has given scholarships to 10 “passionate university scholars” who were alumni of the high school program.
“[It] is part of our commitment to help support the Philippines’ sustainable development by providing educational assistance to Filipino youth,” he said in an interview on August 29.
The students, who were picked through a rigorous screening process are:
– Ly-Ann A. Ferolino, BS Secondary Education Major in English, Batangas State University, Malvar Campus
– Vernalyn D. Montero, BS Secondary Education Major in Mathematics, Batangas State University, Malvar Campus
– Gemma F. Piamonte, BS Industrial Engineering, Batangas State University, Malvar Campus
– Geraldine L. Gaudiano, BS Accountancy, Rizal Technological University
– Sherbyne Alas, BS Business Administration Major in Marketing Management, Polytechnic University of the Philippines, Sta. Mesa Campus
– Alyssa G. Balatucan, BS Business Administration Major in Marketing Management, Polytechnic University of the Philippines, Sta. Mesa Campus
– Eve Jaira C. Agustin, BS Information Technology, Bulacan State University
– Vincent M. Manlapig, BS Accountancy, Bulacan State University
–Ma. Cecilia B. Gañalongo, BS Education, Bulacan State University
– Allea Mae A. Tinawin, BS Manufacturing Engineering and Management, Bulacan State University.
Each student will receive P25,000 worth of educational assistance every year until graduation on top of the annual training, workshops or human development program conducted by SCG to help them develop and improve their skills.
The company said it requires at least a general weighted average of 85 or higher, and the beneficiary must come from a family that earns below minimum wage.
Buranawit, however, said that once the beneficiary is not able to maintain a good academic and behavioral standing in school, the scholarship would be dropped the following academic year.
He added that while the company would not require return services from scholar- graduates, it would welcome them to apply for jobs in the Southeast Asian conglomerate.
The program provides educational assistance to students in member-states of the Asean, including Myanmar, Indonesia, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand and the Philippines.
In the Philippines, the Sharing the Dream program has benefited over 2,000 students from Batangas, Bulacan and Taguig since its launching in 2008.
The company said that while their connections to the cities of their beneficiaries were bolstered through the decade, they would be expanding the program to different regions of the country.
Some 5,000 students across the region receive grants from SCG yearly.