Future is bright for Pantawid Pamilya scholars

LA TRINIDAD, Benguet – Pantawid Pamilya scholars are reaping the rewards of education.

Jenny Remiendo is about to take her Licensure Exams for Teachers (LET) and plans to teach children, finishing her education units at Benguet State University from the Expanded Student Grants-in-Aid Program for Poverty Alleviation (ESGP-PA).

Remiendo is but one of many scholars who were identified and included in the ESGP-PA, for the Cordillera there is a total of 1,279 scholars since 2012.

Each student who is admitted into the program get P60,000 per academic year to cover tuition and other fees, text books and learning materials and a stipend used for board and lodging, clothing, health and medical needs.

A grantee must in turn carry a full load of units per semester as prescribed by the curriculum and maintain a satisfactory performance in school.

Starting with a mere 200 on the onset, the program has expanded and now handles the over a thousand students aiming to finish their education.

The program is a poverty alleviation measure by the Department of Social Welfare and Development, the Commission on Higher Education, the Department of Labor and Employment, the Department of Budget and Management with the Philippine Association of State Universities and Collages (PASUC).

To be accepted into the program a grantee’s family must be a beneficiary of the Pantawid Pamilya program and must be below 30 years old and a high school graduate.

In the Abra State Institute of Science and Technology there are 197 enrolled in the

program while in the Apayao State College there are 46, Benguet State University has 456, Ifugao State University has 206, while the Kalinga- Apayao State College has 195 and the Mountain Province State Polytechnic College has 179.