MANILA, Philippines - At least 18,352 poor but deserving students or out of school youths in Central Luzon stand to benefit from the Special Program for the Employment of Students (SPES) of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) this year.
Raymundo Agravane, regional director of DOLE 3 here said their agency has allotted P44 million for this year’s implementation of SPES which will represent the government’s 40 percent for wages of the student-beneficiaries.
Agravante said the remaining 60 percent of salaries of the students, on the other hand, will be shouldered by participating companies and local government units (LGUs).
Out of the total budget, Bataan will get the bigger share with P13.39 million for 6,134 slots, followed by Pampanga with P9.43 million for 3,676 slots;
Zambales has P6.18 million budget for 3,304 slots while Bulacan has P5.52 million for 1,800 slots;
Nueva Ecija with P4.75 million for 1,500 slots; Aurora with P2.64 million for 1,221 slots and Tarlac with P2.16 million for 717 slots.
He said that some 367 employers from different parts of the region are expected to participate in this year’s SPES, comprising 255 private firms, 99 LGUs, and 13 schools.
Nely Punzalan, head of the DOLE’s Technical Support and Services Division for Employment and Welfare, said the student-beneficiaries will be immersed or exposed to the workplace with an employment period that will last from 20 to 52 working days and will be receiving salaries computed based on the prevailing minimum and applicable LGU wage rates in the region.
Meanwhile, 14,000 jobs for poor but deserving students and out of school youths are available in Cagayan Valley this summer break, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said.
Grace Pomar, DOLE regional supervising labor employment officer, said that the summer jobs were made available by 92 government agencies, including local government units (LGUs), and 32 private establishments all over the region.
Qualified students, he said, would be hired for at least 30 working days during the summer period, or depending on the partner employers, which will shoulder 60 percent of their salaries while the remaining 40 percent to be provided by DOLE.
The DOLE in the region has allocated P31 million as its counterpart for the summer job program this year, higher than last year’s approved budget.
“Some (employers) have started hiring applicants while others are still accepting applicants,†Pomar said.
Generating summer jobs, which is part of DOLE’s Special Program for the Employment of Students, she said, “aimed at encouraging students to work this summer season to earn for their education next school opening.â€