SCHOLARSHIP SLOTS OF RTNMC, CBNC NOW OPEN

The Rio Tuba Nickel Mining Corporation (RTNMC) and Coral Bay Nickel Corporation are set to accept applicants for the scholarship under its Social Development and Management Program (SDMP). The scholarship covers allowances for college, high school and elementary students who complied with the requirements, passed the exam, and interview of the screening committee. The beneficiaries of the scholarship program come from the communities of RTNMC and CBNC in Bataraza. The total budget for the scholarship program for the school year 2018-2019 is P 23.8M. The bulk of the budget comes from CBNC covering 11 impact barangays. The scholarship caters to students who belong to indigenous communities and non-indigenous communities. The SDMP programs and projects of CBNC and RTNMC, however, extend even outside of its impact communities. Ramona Adjed, community organizer of the Community Relations Department of RTNMC said that the allowance provided to scholars ranges from P 2,700 to P5,000 per month per student. The allowance is used to pay for the boarding house, books, uniform and other needs of the student. “Kasi ngayon free na ang tuition sa college, allowance po ang binibigay namin. Ang tinatanggap namin ay mga bagong scholars, ang iba kasi nag-graduate na,” Adjed said. Students within the communities of two companies who want to avail the scholarship have to meet the qualifications. An applicant for the scholarship must be a bonafide resident of the impact barangay for at least 5 years and the parents or guardian are registered voters of the barangay and must be a senior high school graduate within the municipality of Bataraza. An applicant must have a general weighted average of 85% in high school and 2.25 for college, no grades below 80% for high school and 2.5 for college in any subject, and not enrolled in any scholarship program. CBNC and RTNMC have been implementing a scholarship program for several decades already and these companies already produced so many professionals. Some of them are employed by the two companies as employees.