About 5,000 students of the Isabela State University who are children of farmers are to be the first batch of beneficiaries of Sen. Loren Legarda’s “Pantawid Tuition Program." Legarda, who has put premium on education, announced her plan for the first batch of student beneficiaries during her visit to the province over the weekend.
“Kayo ang magiging unang iskolar ng Pantawid Tuition Program na aking ilulunsad para sa mahihirap na pamilya, kasama ng mga pamilya na napapabilang sa Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) na programa ng gobyerno,” Legarda told the students.
The senator said the first batch of scholars from the Isabela State University will be children of farmers taking up agriculture-related courses. Being from a highly agricultural province, these scholars would be valuable assets to Isabela and nearby provinces as they aim to become an agro-industrial center of the country.
"Our agricultural sector needs personnel with the education and competence not only to lend their expertise to farmers and agricultural workers but also to man industries," Legarda explained. "Together with the province of Isabela as led by Gov. Faustino Dy III, our target is to be able to offer scholarships to the 21,000 college students at the ISU," she said.
Earlier, Legarda proposed to the government the granting of college scholarship to at least one member of each of the 3.8 million households that are beneficiaries of the CCC program.
“Ang aking hangarin, ang aking gagawin sa aking susunod na termino ay magkaroon ng kahit isang diploma ang bawat pamilyang Pilipino, lalo na yung nasa ilalim ng 4Ps (Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program), para ang bawat mahirap na pamilya ay siguradong magkakaroon ng isang college graduate,” she has said.
She added: “Mas mararamdaman ng bawat isang mahirap na pamilya ang programa ng gobyerno kung isa sa kanilang anak ay makapagtapos sa kolehiyo dahil matutulungan ng isang nagtapos ang kanyang pamilya, lalo ang kanyang nakababatang kapatid, pag siya ay may permanenteng trabaho na.”
