QUEZON CITY, 12 June, (PIA) -- Starting this school year, the Department of Social Welfare and Development will implement new condition for Pantawid Pamilya beneficiaries enrolled at any level in high school.
Under the National Advisory Committee Resolution # 18 of DSWD which said that Pantawid high school beneficiaries in any level are required to reach the passing general weighted average (GWA) as prescribed by the Department of Education (DepEd).
DSWD-NCR Regional Director Alicia Bonoan said that they are encouraging Pantawid high school beneficiaries to persevere and finish their secondary education for them to have wider opportunities and break the cycle of poverty their families have been in for a long time.
Bonoan cited a study conducted by the PHILIPPINE Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) which revealed that the wage of high school graduates is 40% higher than those of the elementary graduates.
High school graduates can also avail of scholarships offered by the different colleges and universities as well as apply to be working students thus uplifting their economic conditions.
Meanwhile, Bonoan stressed that failure to pass will mean discontinued monitoring or will be delisted as beneficiary. DSWD will allow exemptions in special cases to be determined by the Grievance Committee.
In 2014, DSWD implemented the age expansion of Pantawid Pamilya children beneficiaries from 0-14; the program is now covering and monitoring 0-18 year’s old children for health, and education conditionalities with maximum of three (3) children per household.
The age expansion from 14 to 18 was implemented to allow them to graduate from high school in order to access them to better employment and other opportunities.
In Metro Manila, as of April 2015, a total of 112,789 children in high school, 258,375 in elementary and 42,900 in pre-school were monitored in education conditionality of the Pantawid Pamilya Program for SY 2014-2015. (DSWD-NCR/RJB/LFB/PIA-NCR)
