Negros Occidental gov signs pact with La Salle U for scholarships for teachers

BACOLOD CITY –– Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson has signed a memorandum of agreement with the University of St. La Salle (USLS) in Bacolod City to enable 1,157 more teachers in the province to avail of masters and doctorate scholarships.

Project FREE or Flagships to Reach Educational Excellence-Paglaum Program is a scholarship program of the provincial government and is open to all public elementary and high school teachers in Negros Occidental who want to take up post-graduate studies.

The agreement will cover 1,000 funded scholars, 122 pro bono scholars sponsored by USLS, and 35 seats for teachers from the diocesan schools of Bacolod, Kabankalan, and Dumaguete.

“Investment done for our teachers through the upgrading of their knowledge and skills is an investment for the future of our children,“ said Lacson.

Lacson signed the MOA with Bro. Joaquin Severino Martinez-USLS president and chancellor; Bacolod Bishop Patricio Buzon; Dr. Marsette Sabbaluca-Negros Occidental Schools Division superintendent; Dr. Annabele Balor – vice chancellor for Academic Affairs and USLS Project Free director; and Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Magno.

Board Member Agustin Ernesto Bascon, chairman of the committee on education, and Negros Occidental Scholarship Program head Karen Dinsay were also present at the signing ceremony.