P2 million PGMA scholarship fund for Aklanons still open

Kalibo, Aklan –A total of P2,480,000 fund under the PGMA Training for Work Scholarship Project is still available for Aklanon students who are interested to study but were not able to enroll this school year due to poverty and other reasons.

According to Ely Arensol, Technical Education and Skills Development Specialist of the TESDA Provincial Office here, these students has still until Friday, July 13, to avail of the scholarship slots, as the schools offering the courses agreed to wait for them pending necessary arrangements.

Arensol said that to avail of the scholarship, an interested applicant should coordinate with the Office of the Municipal Mayor in his town as the scholarship coupons will be available through the endorsement of the local chief executives.

TESDA-Aklan also revealed that the Congressional District Office, through Congressman Florencio T. Miraflores, and the Office of the Governor, through Governor Carlito S. Marquez, is also distributing these scholarship coupons.

According to TESDA-Aklan, a coupon for a certain training qualification under the ladderized education program is worth P5,000 each, while a coupon for a Caregiver course is worth P15,000 each.

According to TESDA, of the 40 coupons each given to the Congressional District office and the Office of the Provincial Governor, 2 slots are for Caregiver course, while 38 are for ladderized courses. For the municipal mayors, of the 20 coupons each, 18 are for ladderized courses while 2 are also for caregiver courses.

Currently, TESDA-Aklan bared that enrolment in the schools here offering ladderized courses through the coupons are still minimal, so the office arranged with these schools to give the students until Friday to enroll, while at the same time coordinating with the different executive offices as to the status of the distribution of the scholarship coupons.

TESDA-Aklan said the training for work scholarship project is the government’s answer to the country’s unemployment problems. Once a student obtains a certain qualification, he can get an assessment test from the TESDA, which in turn will issue him a Certificate of Competency which he could use when applying for a job abroad.

In the case of those who would take a Caregiver’s course, it is imperative that the school should arrange for the student’s employment abroad after graduation, according to TESDA-Aklan.

Schools offering ladderized courses here are the Panay Technological College and the Aklan Polytechnic College. Other colleges here including the different campuses of the Aklan State University, are applying for inclusion to the ladderized education curriculum through TESDA. Caregiver schools here include the San Lorenzo College, the Northwestern Visayan Colleges and the Lifeline International.

The scholarship coupon is valid until December 31, 2007, signed by Sec. Augusto Syjuco, TESDA Director-General, Sec. Arturo D. Brion of the Department of Labor and Employment, the governor, the congressman or municipal mayor as endorser. (PIA/Venus G. Villanueva)