Easier requirements, more cash grants eyed for University of Makati scholars

University of Makati. FILE PHOTO

The city government of Makati is looking at possible changes in the scholarship program of the University of Makati (UMak) to enable more beneficiaries to finish their studies.

“We need to modify the requirements for enrollment at UMak to be suitable to the circumstances of students from poor families. We will also subsidize the allowances of underprivileged students to encourage them to strive to finish college despite financial constraints,” acting Makati Mayor Romulo Peña Jr. said in a statement.

Peña, who took over after the suspension of Mayor Junjun Binay in July, said City Hall would pursue plans to provide full college scholarship to qualified Makati residents at UMak, where a P1,000 tuition assistance per semester is granted to residents taking up any course except nursing and a few programs.

He noted that students from poor families face stringent requirements for college scholarship grants, like having “above-average intelligence.”

In an interview Saturday, the city’s public information officer, Gilbert Delos Reyes, cited cases where students qualify as scholars in their first or second year but end up losing the scholarship in their third year after failing to meet certain conditions, like the average grade that must be maintained.

A science student who has a UMak scholarship, for example, must have an average grade not lower than 2.5 every semester. But Delos Reyes said different factors make this difficult to maintain for some students.

“So the city government is studying whether to do away with that system so that the student can continue availing himself [or herself] of the scholarship and eventually finish,” Delos Reyes said.

But the scholars still need to pass all their subjects so as not to compromise the quality of UMak graduates, he added.

The city government is also studying the grant of cash incentives to scholars for their food and transportation. “We are looking at giving cash allowances depending on the needs of each family, maybe at P3,000 to P5,000 per semester,” Delos Reyes said.

Peña has already written the city council about the proposal, he said.

The local government-run UMak has about 3,000 to 4,000 scholars every semester.