The Makati City government announced Thursday it will accept and grant full scholarship to students displaced by the ongoing armed conflict in Marawi City and children of soldiers who died in combat.
Mayor Abigail Binay said the incoming students will be considered full scholars of the University of Makati (UMak).
“At a time when communities in Marawi face uncertainty, the city government wants to help young Filipinos affected by this situation whose dreams for higher education are put on hold because of the crisis,” said Binay.
“We are also extending support to children of our fallen soldiers, whose sacrifice of life saved many of our fellow Filipinos but also left their children without fathers,” she added.
Binay said a Help Desk has been set up at UMak through its Admissions Office to assist displaced students who wish to continue their college education as they wait for conditions in their communities to get back to normal.
“We hope that this will, in some way, help our young Filipinos affected by the situation in Marawi and reflect the essence of what public service in our city has always been—one that responds to the needs and dreams of its constituents,” she said.
On June 9, UMak president Tomas Lopez through Elyxzur Ramos, vice president for academic affairs, issued a memorandum directing the university’s Center for Guidance, Admission, Testing and Scholarships (CGATS) to set up a help desk answering inquiries and facilitating the transfer of students from besieged Marawi City who wish to continue their college education.
According to CGATS director Annaliza Arcega, the university will accommodate them even after June 19, when classes start at the university.
Arcega noted that although it would be ideal if the students could present their report card from the previous semester, they will not be required to provide their school credentials right away.
“Given their special circumstance, we understand that their school credentials may have been left behind and likely destroyed along with their other belongings and homes,” Arcega said.
“In the meantime, an endorsement from their local government or any documents attesting that they studied or came from Marawi will suffice,” she added.
Applicants will be interviewed at the Admissions Office and will be endorsed to the University Registrar for validation of their school documents if they have any. They will also be asked to go over course syllabi to determine the subjects they had already taken, or will be given the option to shift courses if necessary.
For further inquiry and assistance, interested applicants may personally walk in to UMak Admissions Office (ground floor, Building II) or reach them at telephone number һ883-1860.
In 2014, the city government under the administration of Binay’s brother Jejomar Erwin Binay Jr. granted full scholarship to Typhoon “Yolanda” survivors from Leyte and Samar in UMak. One has graduated last April, while three others are currently enrolled at the university.
The transferees were interviewed and asked to go over the course syllabus to check which subjects they had already taken. The students were also given the option to shift from their current course to another.