DIPOLOG CITY, Zamboanga del Norte—The Dipolog local government has granted college scholarships to some 950 poor but deserving students in the city and rural municipalities in Zamboanga del Norte.
Dipolog Mayor Evelyn Uy dubbed the scholarship program “Swingapore 2030 to emphasize the local government’s vision to make the fast-growing coastal city as progressive as Singapore.”
Uy said the student scholars passed an examination of thousands of qualified applicants by Jose Rizal Memorial State University in Dapitan City and its satellite campuses in Katipunan, Siocon and Tampilisan towns where the 950 student qualifiers were enrolled last school year.
The city executive said most of the scholar recipients are now enrolled in agriculture and related areas, as well as in engineering courses which, Uy said, are considered in-demand professions in highly agricultural Zamboanga del Norte which the National Census Coordinating Council earlier described as “one of the poorest provinces in the country.”
Uy said each of the selected scholars, many of whom completed their secondary education working students, is entitled to an annual financial aid of P5,000 plus provision for necessary school supplies and materials.
Scholar-recipients Radmoran Gonzales of Dipolog’s Sicayab village and Cindy Advincla of Kalawit town, thanked Mayor Uy for her concern for the academic advancement of poor high school completers who, if left unaided, could never continue their tertiary education.
Together with other student-scholars, Gonzales and Advincula pledged to study hard so they could finish their college education and later help support their farmer parents and younger siblings.
