CEBU CITY, Aug. 11 (PNA) — Senate Majority Floor Leader Alan Peter Cayetano said some 8,010 in Central Visayas would be able to enrol in college if his “Iskolar ng Bayan” bill is enacted into law.
Of the number, 4,190 are from Cebu.
Senate Bill No. 2275 or the Iskolar ng Bayan bill, proposes that the government mandates all state universities and colleges to give automatic admission and scholarship grants to the top 10 public high school students of each graduating class.
The bill has been approved on third reading by the Senate and has recently hurdled the appropriations committee in the House of Representatives.
Under the measure, state universities and colleges are expected to grant free tuition and other school fees to the Iskolar ng Bayan.
“Let us set aside all talks of politics and focus our efforts on Filipinos families and how to address their day-to-day problems like how to provide quality education for their children,” Cayetano said in statement.
He cited data from the Department of Education that 419 of the total of 7,913 public high schools operating for school year 2013-2014 are located in Cebu and have roughly 4,190 students.
He said this means that if this number of students gets the chance to proceed to college, the same number of families will have chance at a better future.
“Let us show them that they are still our number one priority by approving measures like the Iskolar ng Bayan bill, measures that will directly address the Filipinos’ daily problems,” the senator added.
Cayetano said the enactment of this measure becomes particularly important now that the Priority Development Assistance Fund has been abolished by Congress, leaving some 400,000 scholars on their own to fend for their schooling. (PNA)