Recto: P850M in DOST’s 2016 budget for post-grad scholarships

MANILA, Philippines – Part of the proposed budget of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) for 2016 is an P850-million ($18.34 million) allocation to support 3,201 scholars taking up masters and doctorate degrees in science, engineering, and mathematics.

This was revealed by Senate President Pro-Tempore Ralph Recto, chair of the Senate finance subcommittee, which is tackling DOST’s proposed P17.9-billion ($386.17 million) budget for 2016.

The breakdown of the DOST scholarship is as follows:

• 2,407 Masters in Science
• 794 Doctors in Philosophy

Recto said other countries such as India and China produce science and engineering graduates “by the hundreds of thousands.”

“These MS and PhD graduates in science form the bedrock of our development. If we want to grow, this is one urgently needed human capital we must develop,” he said in a statement released Tuesday, October 6.

In 2014, the DOST’s Science Education Institute listed 2,378 beneficiaries under 3 graduate scholarship programs: 

• Capacity Building Program in Science Education – 159 beneficiaries 
• Accelerated S&T Human Resource Development Program – 1,433 beneficiaries
• Engineering Research and Development for Technology Program – 786 beneficiaries

Undergraduate, other scholarships

Aside from support at the post-graduate level, DOST will also spend more than a billion pesos for students enrolled in science-related undergraduate courses, and for scholars enrolled in the Philippine Science High School (PSHS) system:

• P1.33 billion ($28.69 million) – tuition, monthly stipend, allowance of students in undergraduate courses
• P254 million ($5.48 million) – monthly stipend, uniform, transportation allowance of PSHS scholars

The proposed budget of PSHS – now with a total of 14 campuses nationwide – will get an increase of almost a billion pesos, from P1.08 billion ($23.3 million) in 2015 to P1.91 billion ($41.21 million) in 2016.

Student assistance is also funded in the proposed 2016 budget of other government agencies:

• Commission on Higher Education
• P2 billion ($43.15 million) for student financial assistance programs
• P8.3 billion ($179.08 million) for K to 12 transition scholarship and faculty development programs (9,365 grants for P3.5 billion or $75.56 million)
• Department of Education 
• P21.2 billion ($457.29 million) for 1.8 million grantees of the Government Assistance to Students and Teachers in Private Education or GASTPE

According to Recto, all these government tuition assistance and scholarship grants under the 2016 budget will reach almost P34 billion. This excludes other scholarships offered by state universities and colleges and the Technical Education and Skills Development Administration. – Jee Y. Geronimo/Rappler.com

*US$1 = P46.35