DepEd, DOST to fund 500 scholars

MANILA, Philippines—If you are a third year college student taking up a science and technology course with a general weighted average of at least 83 percent in your first two years in college, you might be eligible for one of 500 scholarships being offered by the Departments of Education and Science and Technology.

At a press conference Monday, DOST Science Education Institute Director Josette Biyo said 500 scholars by September this year will be entitled to a P10,000 for tuition per semester, a P5,000 stipend, and a P5,000 book allowance. They will also be given transportation allowance.

The number of scholars in the succeeding years will double to 1,000 under the implementing rules and regulations of the “Fast-tracked Science and Technology Act of 2013,” Education Secretary Armin Luistro said.

Under the IRR, scholarships will be offered to talented and deserving third year college students enrolled in any of the state colleges and universities or in private schools offering Commission on Higher Education priority courses in science and technology, including basic and applied sciences, mathematics and engineering.

Aside from at least 83 percent general weighted average or its equivalent in their first two years in college, applicants must also pass the junior level science scholarship examination administered by the DOST’s Science Education Institute.

The scholarship will cover the last two years of the applicant’s undergraduate course, or the last three years for scholars enrolled in five-year courses.

In exchange, scholars must execute a return of service contract in which they pledge to teach science and technology subjects for at least two years in high school, or otherwise repay the full amount given them plus interest.

Under the same contract, scholars must teach full-time in a public or private high school such subjects as Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Information Technology, Agriculture and Aquaculture or Fisheries Technology.

They will be entitled to a starting salary grade equivalent to that of a special science teacher I at the Philippine Science High School system. They also get priority for job placement in any public or private school of their choice in their home province, and a one-time relocation allowance should they be assigned to areas other than their permanent residence.