A total of 7165 hopeful senior high school students from Western Visayas took the 2020 qualifying exam for the Department of Science and Technology-Science Education Institute’s (DOST-SEI) 2020 Scholarship Program.
DOST is devoted to accelerating the development of science and technology for socio-economic development.
The Science and Technology (S&T) Scholarship Program is available for both undergraduate and graduate level scholarships, to those who meet the minimum grade requirement and those qualified by the S&T Scholarship Examination.
DOST offers three undergraduate scholarship programs– RA 7687 Scholarship, DOST-SEI Merit Scholarship Program and the RA 10612, known as Junior Level Science Scholarship.
RA 7687 Scholarship (RA 7687) provides scholarship slots to poor but deserving students whose families’ annual gross incomes do not exceed the poverty threshold limit.
The other scholarship referred to as DOST-SEI Merit Scholarship Program is awarded to students with high aptitude in science and mathematics and are willing to pursue careers in the fields of science and technology. On the other hand, RA 10612 or Junior Level Science Scholarship is offered to third year college students who are enrolled in S&T Priority courses at any State Universities and Colleges (SUC), other private universities or colleges that are with CHED compliant programs, CHED identified Centers of Excellence (COE) or Centers of Development (COD) for the priority S&T courses and Institutions with FAAP Level III Accreditation.
The JLSS is a scholarship program under the Republic Act No. 7687 or the “S&T Scholarship Act of 1994,” R.A. No. 10612 or the “Fast-Tracked S&T Scholarship Act of 2013,” and the R.A. No. 2067 or the Merit Scholarship Program.”
RA 7687 and Merit scholarship qualifiers shall enjoy financial benefits which include tuition subsidy, monthly stipend, book allowance, and others.
The implementation of these scholarships supports its primary goal of increasing the number of scientists and engineers that will help boost knowledge creation and economic productivity in the country.
The execution of the K to 12 law is supported by creating a pool of scholar-graduates that can competently teach science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) in the basic education level.
S&T scholars will be required to render service to the country upon graduation for a period equivalent to the number of years they availed of the said scholarship.
Likewise, the RA 7687 and Merit scholars are expected to work along their fields of specialization while those under RA 10612 shall serve as STEM teachers in any public or private high school in the country. (DOST6/JRAGabiota)
