WITH an aim to help students finish their studies, the Special Program for Employment of Student (Spes) of the Department of Labor and Employment (Dole) in Davao Region is allocating 500 slots for students, both in public and private institutions.
Public Employment Service Office (Peso) Davao officer-in-charge Lilibeth Diamante Pantinople said 70 grantees are already deployed in Davao City Government offices and almost 400 grantees are assigned in private companies like fast food chains.
Spes is a year-round program of Dole aimed at helping "the poor and deserving students and out-of-school youths to pursue their employment through incentives granted to employers."
Pantinople said the program has different batches, wherein work duration is a maximum of 20 days for City Hall-employed Spes grantees, while those in private companies will have work for 78 days.
"Qualifications for Spes grantees include net income from both parents must not exceed P136,000 yearly, and with an age requirement of 15 to 30 years old. However, some companies prefer 17 years old," she said.
The employment officer said the program is open for undergraduate and out-of-school youth.
"The salary is 60-percent will be coming from the company, while the remaining 40-percent will be shouldered by Dole," Pantinople said.
Recently, Dole awarded partners of the program whom they have partnered for more than 10 years.
Pantinople said the program has helped many students for the past 10 years, with a yearly grantees of almost 1,000 students.
"Daghan na sab mi’g grantees na gi-hire na mismo sa company, bisan dili na sila under sa Spes program. Labi na tong sa fast food chains. Labi na kung OK imong performance sa ilang kumpanya," she said.
Next batch of Spes grantees will start today, May 2.