925 students aim to join Pangasinan’s Scholarship Programs

925 students aim to join Pangasinan’s Scholarship Programs

LINGAYEN --- About 925 incoming college students from various parts of Pangasinan, who aspire to join the circle of academic scholars sponsored by the provincial government under the administration of Governor Amado T. Espino, Jr., took the Provincial Scholarship Fund Board (PSFB) qualifying examination on May 4.

PROV’L GOV’T SCHOLARSHIP QUALIFYING EXAM HELD. Hundreds of incoming college freshmen take the qualifying scholarship examination of the Provincial Scholarship Fund Board (PFSB) simultaneously held at the Pangasinan National High School in Lingayen (left photo) and at the Juan G. Macaraeg National High School in Binalonan (right photo) last May 4.  The provincial government under the Espino administration has allotted 110 slots for PFSB scholars including automatic qualifiers for academic year 2015-2016.  /MVSadim & GDMoran

The PSFB led by Chief Administrative Officer Irmina Francisco listed 744 examinees at Pangasinan National High School (PNHS), here, and 181 takers at Juan G. Macaraeg National High School (JGMNHS) in Binalonan. Official results of the exam will be released on May 20 and shall be posted on the official facebook account of Pangasinan (pangasinan. gov.ph facebook).

Dr. Francisco said that the 110 approved scholarship slots for the 9^th batch of PSFB academic scholars will be filled out by top 87 examinees while the remaining 23 slots were granted automatically to 23 high school valedictorians who met the family income requirement of Php130,000 per year.

A salutatorian is eligible to be an automatic qualifier provided that he/she meets the family income requirement; and in the event that the valedictorian fails to qualify the family income requirement and/or waives the scholarship privilege.

The academic scholarship of PSFB which is mainly for ‘the poor but deserving high school students’ is a human capital formation program of the present provincial administration that was launched in 2007 when Governor Espino assumed office.

As per record, the Espino administration supports a total of 2,240 scholars, as follows: 1,250 provincial scholars enrolled at the Pangasinan State University; PSFB

scholarship which include 405 academic scholars, 30 National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) scholars, 12 Federation of Pangasinan Muslim Association

(FPMA); and 543 scholars under the joint scholarship program of Congressman

Jesus “Boying” Celeste and Governor Espino.

Each academic scholar is entitled to receive a financial assistance amounting Php8,000 per semester (twice every academic year) who will enroll for a four or five-year degree program in any public or private institution of higher learning in the country.

Priority programs for the academic scholarship include: ladderized courses on education, engineering and information technology, social work, entrepreneurship, agriculture and agro-industrial and Philippine studies (history, arts and culture).

            Due to surplus of nursing graduates, the PSFB scholarship assistance does not cover the Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree.

            More college-enrolled Pangasinense youth continue to benefit from the human capital formation programs of the present provincial administration as they attest that the financial support is of great help to ease the financial difficulties of their respective families.

Jonathan Balleros from San Quintin, who had already enrolled for Bachelor of Science in Electronics and Communications Engineering at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines in Manila, cited the scholarship program as ‘a means to help his family carry out his college schooling.’

            “Kung papalarin po na mag-qualify ako, malaki po ang magiging tulong nito para matapos ko ang aking kurso,” Ballesteros said.

Bianca Risse Songcuan, on the other hand, lauded Governor Espino for giving priority attention to youth development programs like scholarships assistance. “Ang programa po na ito ay isang oportunidad sa amin para makatulong sa magulang namin. Sagot ito sa financial problem ng pamilya,” Songcuan added.

            /Mark Gerry Naval Oblanca/Kristine De Vera