GBF renews commitment to ‘Iskolar ni Juan’ program

MANILA, Philippines — The Gokongwei Brothers Foundation (GBF), the philanthropic arm of the Gokongwei Group, is committed to intensifying its mission of providing a pathway to education and employment after a decade of successful implementation of its “Iskolar ni Juan” (INJ).

Last week, the GBF marked the 10th year of the INJ, its flagship technology-vocational scholarship program that provides education and employment opportunities for underprivileged youth.

The INJ was launched in 2014 in partnership with the Gokongwei Group’s food manufacturing business, Universal Robina Corp. (URC), to offer free training on mechatronics to qualified youths with an opportunity to be employed in a URC production facility.

“My father once said ‘education is the only way to save this country,‘ and he believed in this wholeheartedly that he put up Gokongwei Brothers Foundation with his brothers for that singular purpose of pushing this advocacy,” GBF board of trustees member and URC managing director Marcia Gokongwei said.

Gokongwei said one of the very first projects of GBF is the GBF Technical Training Center, which was initially located in Pasig and was then moved to Laguna.

She said the GBF Technical Training Center is meant to sharpen technical skills needed in the manufacturing industry.

“Then 10 years ago, to complete the vision of building a highly trained workforce, GBF, in partnership with URC, created the program called Iskolar Ni Juan to offer a pathway from education to employment,” Gokongwei said.

“We wanted to provide opportunities to underprivileged high school graduates looking for immediate employment. Iskolar Ni Juan provides free techvoc training in mechatronics and then guarantees employment in our production facilities across the country, should they pass the on-the-job training,” she said.

After 10 years, Gokongwei said the program has been able to produce more than 500 graduates “whose lives have been changed with the training and employment they received.”

“The graduates can earn enough to support their family’s needs; some of them have pursued further education to be certified engineers,” she said.

GBF’s INJ program offers a fully subsidized scholarship that covers tuition, transportation, school supplies, uniforms, accommodation and meals for underprivileged senior high school graduates and college undergraduates between 18 and 28 years old.

Scholars are given free board and lodging at the GBF Technical Training Center in Laguna, where they stay for a seven-month academic term, followed by five months of on-the-job training at URC plants and other business affiliates.

The facility has classrooms fitted with didactic lab equipment to simulate actual plant production set-up, dormitories and a cafeteria.

“This simple yet impactful program is unique in its offering of education to employment. It allows continuity from training to application and provides security to both the student and the employer, so we see this as a win-win situation,” Gokongwei said.

In the next three years, GBF hopes to double its current scholars to fully maximize the program’s potential and the technical training center’s production of tech-skilled and workforce-ready graduates.