The Davao City Indigenous Peoples Mandatory Representative (IPMR) is set to start a campaign encouraging parents from the Indigenous community to send their children to school as part of their goal to produce a group of IP graduates from different tribes through the Iskolar ng Tribu Program.
Councilor Rodolfo Mande, said during the Aprobado sa Konseho press conference at the Sangguniang Panlungsod on Tuesday morning, April 2, 2024, that one of their challenges for the program is disseminating its benefits and advantages to the IP parents who are still adamant when it comes to education.
"The parents kasi they don't really know the importance of education, that's why mag-campaign pa mi didto sa mga ginikanan para ma-encourage sila to push their children to school ([IP] parents still don't know the importance of education, that's why we will do a campaign to encourage them in sending their children to school)", he said.
The program currently has 500 scholars from different colleges and universities and 97 graduates since 2012, a decade before the program was institutionalized through an ordinance. Two scholars under this program are taking law school while one is in the medical field, with more than 20 partner schools in Davao City.
Tribe members outside Davao City who wish to avail of the program, Mande said that only the University of Mindanao (UM), as of date, caters to them. It is also the only school with the most number of student beneficiaries of the Iskolar ng Tribu program.
The program only requires the student to maintain at least a passing grade of 75 for all subjects.
Requirements for availing of the Iskolar ng Tribu Program are Tribal certification, a Certificate of Confirmation (COC) from the National Commission on Indigenous People-Davao City (NCIP) and from the Councilor's office. One must also secure a good moral and school card for school requirements.
Mande clarified that beneficiaries of the Iskolar ng Tribu program can no longer apply for government scholarships. Those who do so will be replaced by other scholarship applicants.
To recall, in June 2022, through the initiative of Mande, the 19th City Council passed the “Ordinance Institutionalizing the Iskolar ng Tribu Program Seeking Support from the City Government of Davao and other stakeholders, particularly the Higher Education Institutions" to further strengthen the educational attainment of the IP community. Kassandra Ysabelle Quijano, HCDC Intern