By Alexander Villafania, loQal.ph
QUEZON CITY, METRO MANILA – House Bill 3676 seeks additional benefits for scholars chosen by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST).
The bill, authored by Agham Party-list Angelo Palmones, pushes for the continued implementation of Republic Act 7687 or the Science Scholarship Act of 1994.
It also seeks to provide additional budgetary allocation for science and technology (S&T) scholarships through augmentation from the net annual income of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor).
Palmones added that the budget allocation be pegged to inflation rates, which has both direct and indirect effects on the cost of education.
Currently, DOST scholars get tuition subsidy of up to P6,000 per semester, book allowance of up to P5,000 every year, and monthly stipends ranging from around P1,000 to P4,000.
Every year, several thousand students are able to pass the DOST scholarship exams. However, Palmones said that the Philippines still lags behind in trained personnel in S&T compared to other countries.
He stressed that there are only 165 trained S&T professionals per one million in the Philippines, which is below the 380 per one million recommended by the United Nations Education, Science, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to have a stable S&T pool.
Palmones has been pushing for more S&T scholars in the Philippines, citing that the number of S&T professionals is commensurate with the economic level of a country.
He said that for the Philippines to improve its economy as well as global competitiveness, more must be done to develop the S&T professional pool.
