Capitol to give supplies to public school pupils

CEBU, Philippines — All kindergarten and elementary students in public schools are set to receive school supplies from the Cebu Provincial Government this year.

Provincial Board (PB) Member Christopher Baricuatro, who heads the Committee on Education, said that the Capitol is targeting to finish the distribution by September.

He added that the PB is currently planning how to distribute the school supplies to the 51 local government units (LGU) considering that the provincial government has limited number of vehicles that can carry the materials.

Instead of the Capitol directly delivering the supplies to the public elementary schools, Baricuatro said that they are eyeing to ask representatives of the LGUs or schools to claim the supplies at the Capitol compound and do the distribution themselves.

The school board has set aside P38 million for the program, an increase of P15 million compared to the P23 million allocation in 2017.

The distribution kicked off last week at Badian Central School, where over 1,500 school children received their share of supplies.

The standard package for each kindergarten student includes one bag with notebook, pencil, crayons, and ruler. For grades 1 to 6, each of them will be receiving a plastic envelope with two writing pads, notebook and pencil.

"Tabang gyud na sa mga ginikanan. Nakahibalo gyud si governor ug vice governor nga lisod kaayo ang panahon karon kay nagsige og saka ang presyo sa palaliton," Baricuatro said.

Last year, the provincial government has recorded 332,151 students from all over province who benefitted from the school supply distribution program.

On another development, the Provincial Board (PB) passed on third reading an ordinance which gives scholarships to "poor but deserving" students who wish to pursue tertiary level studies.

High school graduates who are constituents for at least one year of any local government unit in Cebu Province can apply for the Cebu Tertiary Education Assistance Program (CTEAP). This grant is different from the Paglaum Scholarship of the Office of the Vice Governor.

The ordinance states that a maximum of five scholars per city or municipality shall be chosen. Graduates from barangay high schools are given priority. Those who want to take up programs related to agriculture, engineering, robotics, mechatronics, and information technology are likewise preferred.

The chosen scholarship grantees will enjoy P2,000 monthly allowance and can pick any degree program so long as it is offered by a state college or university. The scholarship is also limited to undergraduate programs.

With around 255 projected number of scholars, the ordinance mandates a yearly appropriation of P6 million. Since the legislation is newly approved, the timeline for its implementation for this school year is yet to be determined. —/GAN (FREEMAN)