The city government of Taguig on Monday announced it has renewed a partnership with the United States government to continue a scholarship program to help students improve their English language skills.
Citing the importance of proficiency in English for global competitiveness, Mayor Laarni Cayetano said her administration will relaunch the English Access Micro Scholarship Program.
The program, which started three years ago, selects 50 students from 14 to 18 years old who are “economically disadvantaged but academically inclined.”
It offers 360 hours of after-school classes and intensive sessions for two years, and aims to improve the English skills of the participants to enhance their academic and employment prospects.
During the relaunching last Jan. 23 at the Taguig National High School, Cayetano said she is honored and grateful the US program found Taguig as one of its beneficiaries.
“Education is a fundamental right and it has been, and continuous to be, a primary advocacy of my administration. Through this program, our students gain self-confidence and find a new sense of self-worth and respect that propel them to achieve more and in the process to embrace a more holistic development,” the mayor said.
US Ambassador to the Philippines Sung Kim, the first American envoy to the country of Asian lineage who also graced the event, congratulated the new scholars and explained the program is more than just learning the English language.
“There’s also learning about the culture and values of America and I think, as US ambassador, I’m discovering that the heart of our relationship is the very strong bond between Americans and Filipinos, and all of you will be helping to promote those deep ties between the people of two countries,” Kim added.
Beneficiaries each received Certificates of Award and a Merriam-Webster pocket dictionary from the program, first launched in Taguig in May 2014. The scholars are officially among the program’s 416 current beneficiaries throughout the Philippines.
Cayetano earlier assured her constituents she will continue the city government’s program for quality public education, scholarships and social services that will benefit students until the end of her term.
“I would like to guarantee that the support the Taguigeños have received for the last six years of my administration will not lessen, but rather will get even better within the remainder of my term,” said the mayor.
“Despite that this is my administration’s last term, there is nothing to worry about because I will make sure that all educational programs like the LANI scholarship program will continue for the benefit of our children,” she added.