CAN EDUCATION liberate people from a life of poverty?

This question was posed by Standard Chartered Bank and the Association of Local Colleges and Universities (ALCU) to students in a recent essay writing contest.

The national essay competition was in line with Standard Chartered?s Diversity and Inclusion Program, headed in the Philippines by chief legal officer Rowena Kapunan Tamano.

It aimed to highlight the importance and value of education as a tool to help alleviate poverty, which the bank considered ?one of the most exclusionary factors in society that block human beings from reaching their full potential.?
More than 200 college students from all over the country wrote on the theme ?How Education Can Alleviate Poverty? for a chance to win P50,000 (first prize), P30,000 (second prize) and P20,000 (third prize).

Anthony Pio W. Clado of the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila (PLM) was first.

Second was Julie Ann Taccaban of the Quirino Polytechnic College in Cabarroquiz, Quirino and third was Jorge Paulo Valentino of Bago City College in Bago City, Negros Occidental.

Awards of distinction were given to the other finalists: Sarip Usman Hasna, Eric Tiburcio, Raphael Mones and Jennifer Anne Zaide.

Josefina Santa Maria, who represented the Department of Education during the awarding ceremonies, said education was the foundation of economic prosperity, individual liberty, social justice and self-worth. She said education made people aware that they had a greater role in society.

Privilege, not a right

But Adel Tamano, president of PLM and ALCU, in his welcome remarks, pointed out that poverty could sometimes make it impossible for people to empower themselves through education. ?Out of four who enter college, only one will finish ... College had become a privilege rather than a right ... Education [had become] the greatest ?excluder,?? he said.

Tamano said a goal of ALCU, an organization of educational institutions many of them funded and/or supported by local governments, was to ensure free and low-cost education for the marginalized.

Eugene E. Ellis, chief executive officer of Standard Chartered, stressed that education could help but only up to a point. People needed ambition, will and moral grounding to make the most of education, he said.

His sentiments were echoed by Clado?s winning essay: ?Education teaches us that only through hard work (could) we gain anything substantial.? He said education gave people the moral grounding that Ellis considered important.

?It teaches us not to forget (others) who have been forgotten by society (and reminds us that if we achieve success we should try to help those in need). Give them the chance to stand on their own feet, so that someday, they will also help others,? Clado wrote.

Other members of ALCU are City College of Tagaytay, Tagaytay City; Gordon College, Olongapo City; Kapalong College of Agriculture, Sciences and Technology, Davao del Norte; La Carlota City College, La Carlota City; Mandaue City College, Mandaue City; Mariano Quinto Alarilla Polytechnic College, Bulacan; Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Marikina, Marikina City; Pamantasan ng Montalban, Rizal; Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Muntinlupa, Muntinlupa City; Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Pasay, Pasay City; Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Pasig, Pasig City; Pamantasan ng Bayan ng San Mateo, Rizal; Tagoloan Community College, Misamis Oriental; and University of Makati.