TO HELP poor students save money for their school expenses, the government gave priority to beneficiaries of its conditional cash transfer program for its summer internship program.
The Department of Social Welfare and Development said 38 college students whose families have been placed under the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino program were included in this year’s internship program in Metro Manila.
Metro Manila regional director Ma. Alicia Bonoan said the beneficiaries were prioritized in the summer internship program to help them save money for their school expenses this year.
“Thus, this will enable them to move one step towards finishing their college studies,” Bonoan said.
The DSWD regional office in Metro Manila took in 50 interns, of which 38 were beneficiaries of the conditional cash transfer program, 10 were walk-in applicants while two were former residents of the DSWD’s facilities in Marillac Hills and the Jose Fabella Center.
The government internship program is part of the President’s Youth Work Program, which provides opportunities to the youth who want to productively spend the summer through involvement in public service.
Participants in the internship program will also earn P300 per day for 22 working days, aside from the skills that they will acquire from exposures to different government offices.
Rima Jane Cajontoy, 18, and an incoming fourth year student, taking Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education at the City University of Pasay is one of the participants in the internship program whose family is a beneficiary of the conditional cash transfer program.
She expressed gratitude for being included in the program as her brother is the breadwinner in the family, working as a security guard, since her father had heart and lung ailments.
Her family became part of the conditional cash transfer program in 2013. Her father Rodrigo, 41, used to work as a taho and soya vendor in the morning, a traffic enforcer in the afternoon and a sidecar driver at night to provide the needs of his family.
Cajontoy said she was able to avail a 50 percent discount in her tuition and will use her salary at the internship program to pay for tuition and other school fees.
The Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino program is a government initiative which invests in the health and education of indigent children up to 18 years old, through cash grants based on the compliance of the parents to certain conditions. SFM/ABC