80K top HS grads seen to benefit from Iskolar ng Bayan Act

Around 80,000 of the country’s best-performing public high school students are now assured of scholarships in 112 state universities and colleges (SUCs) now that President Benigno Aquino III has signed into law the Iskolar ng Bayan Program, now Republic Act No. 10648.

Pasig City Rep. Roman Romulo, chair of the House committee on higher and technical education and one of the sponsors of the Iskolar ng Bayan bill, said the new legislation will enable a greater number of Filipino families to fulfill the dream of sending their children to college.

“Highly improved access to a college education is crucially important in fighting poverty and growing our middle class families,” he said in a statement Sunday.

Under the Iskolar ng Bayan Program, the top 10 graduates of every public high school will be entitled to admission to the SUC of his or her choice within his or her province, without having to pay for first-year tuition and miscellaneous fees.

A year after the student beneficiary avails himself or herself of the college scholarship offered by the government, he or she will be covered by financial assistance from the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), subject to meeting certain criteria.

Public high schools with more than 1,000 graduates will be entitled to one additional college scholarship slot for every 500 graduates, which will be granted to graduates whose ranks immediately follow the top 10.

According to the Department of Education, there are more than 8,000 public high schools all over the country whose top graduates are automatically eligible for the scholarship.

The government has allocated P3.5 billion for scholarships in SUCs in the proposed P2.6-trillion national budget for 2015. Aside from this allotment, CHED also has a P2.2-billion budget for student financial aid.

Voluntary student loan program

Meanwhile, another measure seeking to provide aid to needy college students is now pending Senate action after being passed by the House of Representatives on third and final reading earlier this year.

House Bill 3617, otherwise known as the proposed Voluntary Student Loan Program by Private Banks, seeks to enable eligible tertiary students to obtain a low-cost bank loan to pay for the tuition of the college where they has been accepted. The student may also use the money to finance all other schooling as well as living expenses.

The loan would have an effective interest rate pegged to the 91-day Treasury bill rate, which stood at 1.144 percent per annum as of Nov. 28.

Should the bank apply an add-on 3.0 to 5.0 percent annual interest rate, it may claim the corresponding amount as tax credits instead of having students pay the extra interest charges. The bank may then use the credits to pay, or offset, its tax obligations.

The student borrower is mandated to pay off the loan periodically starting two years after graduation, but not later than eight years after leaving college.

Borrowers would be issued either a Social Security System (SSS) or Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) numbers, depending on their preferred future employment.

The bank may then enlist the SSS or GSIS to collect repayments via salary deduction or withholding.

In case of borrowers who have found jobs overseas, the lender may ask the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration to help collect the outstanding obligations that are due to it. — Xianne Arcangel/BM, GMA News