JUNE 5, 2011

NR # 2426B

Solon pushes scholarship for poor but talented students

Bright and talented students who belong to underprivileged families may still
continue their college education under a proposed scholarship program to be funded by
private educational institutions.

Rep. Salvio Fortuno (5th District, Camarines Sur) said House Bill 4591 will require
all colleges and universities to grant free tuition fees to at least five percent of the student
population who are poor but talented.

“With the full support of the almost 1,473 private colleges and universities in the
country, each of them contributing their small share of five percent of their schools’
population, talented and brilliant students who belong to the marginalized sector have a
greater chance of finishing college,” Fortuno said in filing the bill.

Under the bill to be known as the “Scholarship Grants for the Poor Act of 2011,”
poor but deserving students will get free tuition fees.

The bill provides that any Filipino student who graduated high school with an
academic weighted average of at least 85% and whose family has no visible means of
income or with an annual income of not more than fifty thousand pesos (P50,000.00) is
qualified for a scholarship grant.

The scholarship grantees shall not be less than five percent of the total student
population of the college or university, the bill says.

“The government and society will somehow benefit from one day, these brilliant
students will become productive members of society,” Fortuno said.

The bill mandates the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and the
Department of Education (DepEd) to issue the necessary rules and regulations for the
implementation of the proposed act.

“The Constitution explicitly provides that the State shall protect and promote the
right of all citizens to quality education at all levels and shall take appropriate steps to
make education accessible to all,” Fortuno said. (30) jsc