Sunday, November 23, 2008 Poor students get education subsidy By Ian Ocampo Flora
CITY OF SAN FERNANDO -- More indigent students were among the third batch of scholars who received grants amounting from P2,000 to P5,000 under the City Government's Scholarship in Education for Empowerment and Development (Seed) program.
Determined to put more poor children in schools, Mayor Oscar Rodriguez formally distributed the scholarship assistance of 444 indigent students in simple ceremonies at the Villa Barosa Covered Court last Friday.
The event was attended by local barangay officials and beneficiaries from Barangays Dolores, San Agustin, and San Isidro.
"This Seed distribution will be conducted until we are able to give enough scholarship assistance to the barangays of this city. The more we put in school the better it would be for the future of our city," Rodriguez told beneficiaries during the event.
The mayor told Sun.Star that there are 8,000 Seed scholars being supported by the city from the mere 243 recipients in June 2004. This increase, according to Rodriguez, has been brought about by the steady increase in Real Property Tax (RPT) assessments and collections in the city.
"The increase in RPT means more funds for the Special Education Fund (SEF)," Rodriguez said, stressing that this year's SEF is now at P78 million compared to a meager P28 million appropriation in 2004.
"We try to put more beneficiaries into the program. But the success of this would depend on how diligent our students would be in meeting their grade requirements and really pushing to achieve their dreams," he added.
Seed is an institutionalized city scholarship program that provides opportunities to poor students to be able to continue schooling.
Earlier, around 250 students from Barangays Pandaras, Magliman, San Juan, and Malino received Seed grants.
At least 333 high school and college students from different barangays here also received Seed grants earlier this month.
The Seed grants given at the Villa Barosa Covered Court is the third distribution for the month of November.
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