PAGADIAN CITY—Some 400 poor but deserving college students belong to the Indigenous Peoples from the Zamboanga Peninsula, Basilan and Tawi-Tawi have been given scholarships for the second semester under the Educational Assistance Program of the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples, a tribal official said.
Abdurasid Buddick, Regional EAP Focal Person, told media the scholars—who belong to the Subanen, Yakan, Kalibugan, Sama Bangingi, and Badjao tribes—were selected by an NCIP Educational Task Force.
The criteria were family income, academic excellence and performance during the interview.
Buddick said 350 of the scholar beneficiaries would receive P10,000 educational assistance every semester and are required to maintain a weighted average grade of at least 80 percent.
The remaining 50, classified under the merit-based full scholarship, would receive P25,000 each per semester and must keep a weighted average grade of at least 85 percent.
These scholars, he said, are currently enrolled in Higher Education Institutions near their respective areas taking up four-year bachelor degree programs, such as Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education, Bachelor of Science in Secondary Education, Bachelor of Science in Social Welfare, Bachelor of Science in Commerce, Bachelor of Science in Information Technology, Bachelor of Science in Criminology, among others.