CEBU: Schoolchildren under the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) in Central Visayas are provided with education grants to entice them to enroll and finish their school year, a social welfare official said on Tuesday.
Jiah Sayson, head of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD)-Central Visayas’ 4Ps Division, said the agency has activated the 4Ps Bata Balik Eskwela (BBE) to remind 4Ps children to comply with one of the main conditions of the program, which is to enroll back in school and attend their classes regularly.
She said the 4Ps BBE, which entitles 4Ps schoolchildren to an education grant if they sustain their studies, is in line with the directive of the Marcos administration to bring back 4Ps children to schools.
For elementary students, a PHP300 grant per child per month for 10 months is conditional on their child’s school attendance; PHP500 per child per month for junior high school with the same condition; and PHP700 per child monthly for 10 months for senior high school w
ho fulfills the same condition.
‘Through this campaign, DSWD would like to bring back to school the 4Ps children beneficiaries, especially those who stopped going to school or have difficulty continuing their studies,’ Sayson told the Philippine News Agency.
She said the program ‘recognizes some children have difficulty continuing their studies for various reasons.’
‘These need to be attended to in collaboration with everyone, from the parents, school, and local government units up to the national government units like the Department of Education (DepEd) and DSWD,’ she added.
The 4Ps households also received health grants worth PHP750 per month per household for 12 months, provided their children aged two to 14 years underwent growth development and monitoring, deworming, and attended the monthly family development sessions (FDS).
Sayson said on top of the education and health grants, 4Ps household beneficiaries receive a monthly rice subsidy of PHP600.
Source: Philippines News Agency
