Local government giving out ‘scholarship’ to win votes?

I’m writing out about the local government’s education assistance that has been so disorganized.

I am a college student and belong to a scholarship run by our municipality which is led by our current mayor. Each scholar was required to maintain an average grade to receive a P3,000 payout made every semester. Things have been going smoothly until a meeting last year when the grade requirement was lifted and those who would want to avail of the scholarship were required to take an exam, including existing scholars like me. Once a student was admitted to the scholarship program, they would need to collect 20 kilos of plastic waste each semester to avail of the P3,000 allowance.

The exam was easy and only a few did not pass. But how did the scholarship suddenly stop requiring an average grade, thus, ending with too many scholars? Where do you find a scholarship that doesn’t look at grades? Many people believe that the agenda is not really to encourage academic excellence but to get more scholars to win votes for the mayor in the next election. Just imagine, if a scholar has three voters in their household, that would immediately mean three votes for the mayor. Indeed, local politicians have been using educational programs like this for their own political agenda.

Unfortunately, because the number of scholars has increased, the payout has become only once a year. This is not fair to the students, especially those who have worked hard to maintain an average grade only for such efforts to be equated to collecting 20 kilos of garbage each semester before getting the P3,000 allowance.

I hope the Department of Education, Education Secretary Sara Duterte, and the Department of the Interior and Local Government look into this. Hopefully, this will be acted upon and ensure fairness for all students. Scholarship programs should not be used as a ploy for politicians to win elections. Students should not be burdened by the local government’s waste collection program. They should be rewarded for academic excellence, not for the amount of garbage that they are able to collect, as well as receive the complete grant due them and as promised by the local government.

NAME WITHHELD ON REQUEST
Santa Cruz, Laguna