PLDT-Smart’s ‘Gabay Guro’ scholars feted

MANILA, Philippines — The PLDT-Smart Foundation (PSF) recently recognized 205 scholar graduates of its “Gabay Guro” program, which supports students taking education courses in various schools nationwide.

PLDT-Smart chairman and chief executive officer Manuel V. Pangilinan led the event dubbed Simpleng Handog, which recognized the largest batch of beneficiaries of the foundation’s flagship teacher education program.

“We will continue to consider teachers as agents of transformation, as critical instruments of nation-building,” Pangilinan said.

“You not only make our students attuned to the digital age, but you also offer hope to our youth. You teach them that dreams can fuel ambition, ambition needs effort and effort produces success,” he added.

Pangilinan also emphasized the role of Gabay Guro as a program in equipping future educators with digital skills.

“In this time of digital transformation, our responsibility to our students, to our parents, to our people, is to level up the quality of education that can be relevant and useful to the future of our youth, and the way to do that is to be digital,” he said.

The initial idea for Gabay Guro, which started in 2007, was to simply give every teacher an opportunity to be acknowledged and celebrated as an important part of the Philippines’ educational system, according to Pangilinan.

The program has since granted 1,500 scholarships in almost 50 partner schools nationwide and has already produced 1,000 graduates.

PLDT senior vice president for financial reporting and controllership and Gabay Guro chairperson Chaye Cabal-Revilla stressed how projects such as Gabay Guro serves as a great equalizer.

“The ripple effect is even bigger when teachers benefit from higher education. They will pass on what they learn to the generations of students that they will mentor,” Revilla said.

“Our scholars are truly the embodiment of passion and dedication in creating waves of change. May each of them continue to pursue their dreams as they soar high into the world of possibilities,” PLDT vice president for carrier settlements and business operations and Gabay Guro head for scholarships Melanie Manuel said.