DSWD mulls offsite payouts for those unable to register online for education aid

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) on Monday said they are considering implementing an offsite payout system for indigent students who could not register online for the agency’s educational assistance program due to lack of access to internet or gadgets.

DSWD spokesperson Assistant Secretary Romel Lopez said they will allot specific guidelines for the house-to-house distribution of the cash aid, possibly in coordination with the local government units.

“When it comes to those who don’t have access to internet, to gadgets, we will come up with guidelines, most probably offsite payouts. Remember during the pandemic, the DSWD social workers, nag-bahay bahay na,” Lopez said in an ANC interview.

Aside from this, Lopez said the DSWD, with the help of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), is also planning to add more payout centers in cities and municipalities to serve more students in crisis situations.

“Last Saturday when DILG Secretary Benhur Abalos visited one of our payout areas, he promised us that he will be talking to more local government units to cater and help us with our educational assistance. Our possible agenda will be to really increase the number of our payout centers to better help our kababayans,” he added.

He said the DSWD has enough social workers to assess in more payout centers and that the LGUs also committed their social welfare officers to conduct initial screenings.

As of Monday, Lopez noted that about P376.5 million educational assistance have been provided to some 148,000 students nationwide in the past two Saturdays.

Under its cash assistance program for indigent students, the DSWD is distributing P1,000 for elementary students, P2,000 for high school students, P3,000 for senior high school students, and P4,000 for college students or vocational courses.

The DSWD has earmarked P1.5 billion for this initiative, expected to cater to up to 400,000 students all over the country. — Giselle Ombay/RSJ, GMA News