They should be kinder to this bunch.
“The Commission on Audit said that some scholars of the Philippine Science High School (PSHS) need to return about PHP31 million worth of scholarship funds for failure to abide by the agreement related to studying at the country’s premier secondary school,” reports Maricel Halili on InterAksyon.com.
According to the 2013 COA report, some students violated some provisions of the agreement.
The report noted: “PSHS students enjoy tuition-free high school education, a monthly allowance of PHP3,000, clothing allowance, and round-trip ticket for students from indigent families from the provinces.”
In exchange for the said privileges, the students “are expected to stay in PSHS for four years and then take up any of the 97 courses related to science and technology like engineering, agriculture, or mathematics.”
If the students fail to abide by the scholarship’s stipulations, then they are obliged to refund the amount given to them.
COA disclosed that “between 1992 and 2013, 48 students have dropped out of the high school and 73 have not taken science and technology-related college courses.”
Overall, the government spent PHP23 million on the 48 scholars, plus PHP8 million would have gone to other scholars if the money had been refunded.
That said, the COA has recommended the creation of a group to monitor how the high school scholars are faring.
Larry Cabatic, PSHS executive director, said this is already being done, although he is asking the help of the alumni in this action.
Photo: WikiCommons
