MANILA, Philippines — Caritas Manila, the social services arm of the Archdiocese of Manila recently graduated 1,604 college and vocational-technical scholars for the school year 2021-2022 under its Youth Servant Leadership and Education Program (YSLEP). This is the largest batch to date since the program started almost 70 years ago.
The batch includes 565 scholars from Luzon, 511 from the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Manila, 279 from Visayas and 249 from Mindanao.
Among the YSLEP graduates are six summa cum laudes, 54 magna cum laudes, 140 cum laudes, 78 special awardees, 68 with academic excellence and 779 in the dean’s list. The 2021-2022 batch finished courses in business, education, economics, engineering, social sciences, information technology and agriculture.
Caritas Manila recognizes each and every YSLEP scholar during a special event called Kairos, a word meaning the opportune time or the appointed time in the purpose of God. Each scholar receives a certificate of recognition and an Outstanding Youth Servant Leader Medal. A total of 18 Kairos events were held nationwide from June to September this year.
YSLEP prioritizes disadvantaged youths from the poorest provinces, indigenous groups, those who are victims of calamities and those affected by war and conflicts.
According to Fr. Anton Pascual, Executive Director of Caritas Manila, no one succeeds alone. “The more you help, the more it will come back to you. The Bible says to not be afraid to help. Either give your time, talent or treasure. It will come back to you. Give and you shall receive, good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over.”
As of August 2022, Caritas Manila has allotted P107.5 million to support the tertiary and vocational-technical education of 4,639 currently enrolled YSLEP scholars.
For more information on how to donate, visit https://www.caritasmanila.org.ph/online-cash-donation. To know more about Caritas Manila, log on to www.caritasmanila.org.ph; visit www.facebook.com/OfficialCaritasManila, check @officialcaritasmanila on Instagram and @CaritasManila on Twitter.