ILOILO City – A total of 125 college students recently qualified to become new scholars of the Iloilo provincial government.
They will be entitled to a total of P41,000 worth of assistance per school year – a P3,500 monthly stipend, a P2,000 book allowance per semester and a P1,000 uniform allowance per school year.
Capitol decided to continue its Iskolar sang Iloilo program despite the national government’s free tuition program to shoulder the other fees of qualified students, said Human Resource Department head Alma Ravena.
The Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act provides for full tuition subsidy for students in state universities and colleges, local universities and colleges, and state-run technical-vocational schools.
Students must get into a state university or college to qualify to the Iskolar sang Iloilo program, Ravena said.
Aside from the qualifying exam, the applicants are subject to a background check, particularly their family’s socioeconomic status, she said.
Qualified students must have no grade lower than 3.0 (which, in most SUCs in Iloilo, is equivalent to the minimum passing grade) but are encouraged to maintain at least 2.5, said Ravena. “But based on our track record, the scholars can maintain higher grades.”
The 125 new scholars included 25 from each of the five districts of the province.
Being an Iskolar sang Iloilo is a big help, especially that they pay other fees aside from tuition, said one of the new scholars, Carmela Francisca Adelantar of Janiuay town.
“Nag-apply ako for this scholarship kay we have other fees to pay,” said Adelantar, who is taking a Bachelor of Special Needs Education course at the West Visayas State University in La Paz district.
She said her mother, a barangay health worker, is the only one financially sustaining her college education.
Aside from the financial benefits, being a capitol scholar also motivates her to study well, Adelantar said.
She said she gets inspired to finish her bachelor’s degree. “Indi rason ang kaimulon para indi ako makatapos.”/PN
