Education Secretary Jesli Lapus advised students to take advantage of the American Field Service (AFS)-Partners for Learning Youth Exchange and Study (YES) scholarship program which, with help from the Department of Education (DepEd), has selected the best and brightest young leaders in the country.
Lapus expressed hope that the students would show their competitiveness at the same time keep the good reputation previous AFS scholars have successfully built in the US.
The students come from the urban poor of the National Capital Region (NCR); rural poor of Regions 5, 6, 8; indigenous communities of Regions 2, 13 and the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR); Muslim communities of Regions 9, 11, 12 and Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM); and the indigenous and Muslim communities of Region 10.
The students who passed the AFS program’s rigid screening and selection process are Frances Jade Abad, Koojie Aketa, Fatimah Jasmeen Alih, Remelyn Aloyon, Ahmad Arangale, Faisalin Armama, Eunice Jessema Bacoco, Jean Marie Baldado, Abner Bayangan, Noemi Booc, Bai Hasmin Brah, Nonito Cabrera Jr., Ma. Florinda Cabrido;
James Caswang, Sheila Mae Esmale, Mara Antonine Espejo, Raf Andrew Espenocilla, Janna Mae Estares, Cassandra Galguierra, Asil Ebrahim Kurundarath, Meriam Laoyan, Ma. Karen Cristine Legion, Alhasin Mabbol, Al-Bari Macalawan, Patrick Evandel Manlapaz;
Princess Moratin, Gemmalyn Morta, Nimblegail Ngina, Aludia Grace Nola, Krisna Ocong, Rajeev Omar, Amon Jadeedah Pacasem, Mark Puzon, Mazuin Quiachon, Alma Rahim, Milaluna Said and Salma Saphie.
Joey Pelaez, executive director of the DepEd’s Center for Students and Co-Curricular Affairs, said the scholars’ one-year US study would not be credited to their studies.
The students are required to return to the Philippines and finish their fourth year high school studies and initiate activities that will allow them to share their US experience with their Filipino classmates.
All exchange students will live with host families and will be placed in Grades 10 or 11 in US public high schools. The students will learn about American society and values as well as acquire leadership skills while helping in the education of their American classmates.
Other AFS program participants come from Egypt, Indonesia, Malaysia, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, India, Ghana and Thailand.
The AFS program aims to build bridges of understanding and mutual respect between the US and countries around the world.
It is funded by the US State Department Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. The program caters to countries with significant Muslim populations. — Sandy Araneta