Underprivileged Las Piñas students get education aid

Some 750 underprivileged but deserving elementary students are the beneficiaries of the Education Assistance for Children in Difficult Circumstances Program of the Las Piñas City government.

Las Piñas Mayor Imelda Aguilar released P500,000 worth of education assistance in the form of school items such as bags, notebooks, pens and other school supplies to be given to children in depressed areas or those coming from disadvantaged families.

Las Piñas Department of Social Welfare and Development head Junet Barilla said the distribution of items started this month. She noted that recent beneficiaries under the program reached 3,000 students, including the latest batch.

The program was implemented in 1995.

"This has become an annual activity aimed at helping both primary and secondary students. It is just that for this particular year, we are focusing on the needs of elementary students," Barilla pointed out.

To accommodate the increasing number of students enrolled every year, Aguilar has strengthened the public school system in the city by constructing additional campuses in the city’s 20 barangays and by improving facilities.

At present, the city has 65 "educare" centers, 27 elementary and high school buildings, a manpower and skills training school designed for out-of-school youth and women and a city college offering degree courses in business administration.

The city government has also provided assistance to street children and provided them with scholarships, school supplies, medical, dental and nutritional care.