BAGUIO CITY – The local government and the School of St. Isidorus, Inc. entered into a memorandum of agreement that will provide scholarship to the identified indigent schoolchildren in the city from kindergarten to senior high school.
Under the said agreement, the local government shall take the lead role in the assessment of poor families within school-aged children to be included in the scholarship program; provide other social protection support services to the qualified poor families and provide augmentation support services such as provision of school supplies, counselling and limited financial assistance.
On the other hand, the school shall comply with the requirements of the Department of Education for the necessary permit for the operation of its school; provide scholarship to 60 children of identified poor families in the city through free tuition fee, miscellaneous and coordinate with the City Social Welfare and Development Office for the pre-selection and the number of students to be accommodated by the educational institution.
The parties agreed that the memorandum of agreement will be valid for 3 years commencing from schoolyear 2019-2020 and if any party wishes to terminate the same, a 30-day written notice with explanation shall be forwarded to the other party.
The agreement stipulated that the students who will be affected by the termination shall still remain as scholars until the end of the schooolyear and that the conditions of the agreement shall be amended by mutual consent of the involved parties.
The School of St. Isodorus, Inc. is currently offering scholarships to indigent children of the city from kindergarten to senior high school to help them achieve a decent education for them to be able to help move their families out from the shackles of poverty in the future.
One of the 15-point collective agenda of the present administration is to have a responsive education program that will cater to the education needs, especially the indigent schoolchildren.
The local government, through the City Social Welfare and Development Office, is responsible in the identification of poor families and indigent children in the different barangays of the city that is why it would be easy to access the people that are in need of the said scholarship program for them to be able to acquire the needed education for them to become productive citizens of the country.
Earlier, the local government and the school administration agreed to work together to provide social protection services to families encountering financial problems that pass the assessment of the City Social Welfare and Development Office.
The signed memorandum of agreement was transmitted to the local legislative body for confirmation pursuant to the pertinent provisions of Republic Act (RA) 7160 otherwise known as the Local government code of the Philippines prior to the full implementation of the provisions of the same.
The local legislative body deferred the approval of the memorandum of agreement to await the copies that will be provided the members for study prior to the votation that will be scheduled during their regular session on Monday.
By Dexter A. See
