Poor deserving students take relief in 'One Town, One Scholar' Program
SAN JOSE, Antique – Poor and deserving students all throughout the country has reason to be jubilant as Pres. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s “One Town, One Scholar” Program takes off with the signing of the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) during the League of Municipalities of the Philippines (LMP) 6th National Directorate Meeting.
The implementation of the program takes effect this June with 1,500 scholars receiving a grant for a four-year or five-year college degree program including free tuition, transportation and living allowance not exceeding P15,000 per semester for 2009-2010 and every year thereafter.
The scholar, however, must pass the state college or university’s entrance examination.
Secretary Hermogenes Esperon of the Presidential Management Staff (PMS) and one of the signatories to the MOA said the program will ensure that the best and brightest public high school graduate from each of the country’s 1,500 municipalities, especially those with no financial means, will get a college education.
As conceived, town Scholars must (a) be a natural born Filipino citizen residing in the municipality; (b) be a graduating student of a public high school in the town; (c) belong to the top ten of the graduating class of their public school; (d) come from a family whose combined annual income is below P300,000; and (e) in good health and good moral character.
Interested applicants shall submit their letters of application to their respective schools subject to the screening and selection process agreed upon by the Municipal government and Department of Education aside from the programs minimum requirements.
Period of application, screening and selection of grantees at the municipal town level is from March 1 to April 15, 2009 after which the town Mayor will endorse to CHED Regional Office the selected scholar. CHED will validate the grantees records prior to the final issuance of Scholarship Certificate.
Signatories to the MOA are Binaloan, Pangasinan Mayor Ramon Guico, LMP President; Sec. Hermogenes Esperon, PMS Chief; CHED Chair Emmanuel Angeles, DILG USEC Eduardo Soliman; DepEd Usec. Vilma Labrador; DBM Usec Mario Relampagos and PASUS Pres. Dr. Lairo Tacbas. (PIA)