Some 4,000 incoming college students applying for scholarships this school year from the local government of Albay would not be granted the college educational opportunity.
This, after provincial officials suspended temporarily the scholarship grant because of the cut in its Internal Revenue Allotment this year.
Arnold Embestro, Provincial Board member and Education Committee chairman, said with a P45-million fund cut in IRA the Sangguniang Panlalawigan decided to suspend temporarily the scholarship program under the Albay Higher Education Contribution Scheme.
Embestro, however, said the suspension would only be for two years, as soon as sufficient funds for the program are available scholarship grant would be restored.
He explained that for every school year, the province is accommodating some 4,000 qualified college students to be enrolled in any state college and university, community colleges and private schools in the province.
He said the province is spending at least P40 million a year to finance the new entrants to this kind of educational grant, so with the P45 million IRA cut other projects would be put on hold.
Embestro, in an interview, said the IRA cut indeed affected the new and on-going projects lined up for implementation, after intense deliberation "we deemed it right to suspend it."
Under the AHECS, Albay provincial government is spending at least P164 million to finance the college education of 16,400 students currently enrolled this school year.
AHECS seeks to produce one college graduate per family in the province. A student who qualifies would receive P5,000 in tuition per semester.
The program is entering its third year. Gov. Joey Salceda said the province borrowed P150 million from the Land Bank to partly finance the program. The loan carries an interest rate of 8 percent per annum and is payable in 12 years.
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