‘Free’ is ‘free’

“ Free” is “Free” because the minute we attach conditions to them they are no longer free.

A well meaning Director of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) recently stated that students receiving full or free scholarship at a government or State University should be full time students with full time load and not be working students enrolled in minimum loads. That of course is the ideal; concentrate on your studies, don’t extend your stay in school and get it over with in the shortest possible time. Unfortunately we don’t live in an ideal world. There are expenses involved with education, costs for daily living, not to mention the fact that some students also happen to be supporting other siblings or helping out their financially cash strapped family.

I discovered the nitty gritty of it all through a church foundation we support. Every year when funds are available, my wife and I contribute to Real Life Foundation, which is under our home church Victory Christian Fellowship. Real Life Foundation provides free scholarships for students in need who attend Victory. But it does not stop at giving scholarships. Real Life looks into the living conditions of the student, family life and everything that affects or has an impact on the life a student while studying.

What I’ve learned through the wonderful volunteers at Real Life is that it is not enough to give a scholarship or pay for tuition fees. Even providing baon along with the free tuition is no guarantee that the students or the scholar will sail through. The people at Real Life learned early on that many students who need scholarships often are also in need of support for food because most of them eat only two meals a day, they need some way of paying for utilities or they end up like the kid on Facebook who literally studied under a Meralco lamp post, and they need stability at home in terms of marital and spiritual concerns of the parents and siblings. Home life for poor students is generally stressful and unstable. Because of this valuable information, the program helps to improve the living conditions and reduce the challenges that confront students by addressing all aspects.

As someone who travels far and wide around the Philippines I am familiar with the fact that many kids in high school won’t complete the course because survival instincts push them to earn a living to buy food. No brain will appreciate or function if it is malnourished or constantly stressed by hunger. Intelligent kids also have a high sense of   responsibility and are the first to give up their slot or chance to study. The government’s CCT or Conditional Cash Transfer rewards families that enroll their children and mothers who go to government clinics for regular medical attention. Good or bad the CCT recognizes that education or free tuition fees alone will not motivate or insure that kids go to school or finish school.

Instead of immediately flexing their muscles, waving fingers and going “No-No-No” to working students, CHED officials should do some studying on the situation as well. Many great, well-known, and successful individuals in Philippine history and society were working students. Many of them were the first to graduate with a college diploma in their family and some of them are today’s Taipans, Tycoons and well-known politicians or Civil Servants.

What the Education officials ought to look into is how to develop and build a “Summer Job” culture for high school students, officials should create a roster of businessmen and public figures who were working students and invite them to help form a program that would match up students with companies and people who appreciate the experience and value of having been a working student and find ways and means to HELP and NOT HINDER these motivated and sacrificial individuals.

Above and beyond creating a support program, the DepEd and CHED could spin it off to another program that gives part time jobs to as many students as possible as early as high school to have “working experience.” If there is one thing that is sorely lacking in this country in terms of training and developing young kids or the youth, it would be the absence of Summer Jobs and Internships even for as short as two weeks. That would be time and money well spent to expose and build up young people in the world of business.

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The “Bird Flu” in San Luis, Pampanga is serious shit that threatens the entire nation but people don’t realize the gravity of the situation.

I came to realize this when I attended the Poultry show at the SMX Convention Center this last weekend and I saw at least a couple of thousand fighting cocks, hens etc. that came from all over the country, all under one roof and for sale. What worried me was that some of the vendors or exhibitors came from Pampanga, some passed through Pampanga etc. It was as if it never occurred to people that one wayward Maya with the flu was all it would take to decimate all of the chickens as well as spread the curse of the Bird Flu. I understand that the government does not want to alarmist about the subject matter, but given what a fast and efficient killer the Bird Flu is, it might be a good idea to get tough on the matter or risk a nationwide disaster.

I applaud the DA for what they have done so far in terms of public information, but one place where the warnings should have been aired repeatedly should have been at the Poultry show where so many farm owners as well as Sabungeros were in attendance. If you have chickens, birds or any type of fowl at home or in a farm, please study what the Bird Flu is and fully cooperate with the government. For all intents and purposes, it is as if Nature itself has fired a biological weapon of mass destruction at us. Be vigilant – be responsible.

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