IN 2015 Iskolar ng Bayan law to aid 4T students in Cebu

CEBU, Philippines - Over 4,000 top fourth year high school students in Cebu will be the first to benefit from the Iskolar ng Bayan Act of 2014 after it was recently signed into law by President Benigno Aquino III.

Senate Majority Floor Leader Alan Peter Cayetano, who was in Cebu yesterday, said that initially, 80,000 high school graduates who belong to the top ten in their class will benefit from the law, which will be implemented next school year.

Out of the 80,000, 4,190 students from Cebu and 8,010 from Central Visayas will go to college as scholars with the passage of the law.

"Automatically the top ten graduates magiging scholar na, hindi na kailangang pumasa pa ng entrance examination," the senator said.

Cayetano said this is one step closer towards the goal of providing Filipinos, particularly the poorest of the poor, free access to quality education that will serve as their tool to fight off poverty and unemployment.

The senator said that according to the Department of Education's latest data, 419 of the total 7,913 public high schools operating for school year 2013 to 2014 are located in Cebu.

"This is good news to Filipino families who are having difficulties sending their children to college. The passage of this law will definitely change the lives of almost 80,000 Filipino youths who are dreaming of a better future for their families. 80,000 families will finally be able to feel the benefits of our growing economy," he said.

The newly-approved law mandates all state universities and colleges   to give automatic admission and provide scholarship grants to the top ten public high school students of their respective graduating classes.

Under the measure, SUCs are expected to grant free tuition and other school fees to the Iskolar ng Bayan in all SUCs.

Meanwhile, as part of the campaign to discourage small-time cooperatives to resort to loan sharks that charge high interest rates, Cayetano gave P100,000 financial assistance to the Minglanilla New Market Vendors Association yesterday.

The senator also gave another P100,000 to the Nagkahiusang Drivers sa Alegria in Alegria town, Cebu.

Dubbed the "Kontra 5-6 Program," the senator's program is part of his Presyo, Trabaho, Kita platform, which he launched during his 2013 reelection campaign in the hope of addressing problems related to high prices of goods, lack of jobs and low income. —(FREEMAN)