147 Cordillera students get DOST scholarships

By Rine Lee S. Carantes

BAGUIO CITY -- The Dept. of Science and Technology- Cordillera Administrative Region (DOST-CAR) has a new set of scholars under the DOST-Science Education Institute’s (SEI) 2022 undergraduate scholarship program.
Science, technology and innovation (STI) are one of the most overlooked and neglected fields in the industry. 
    According to the Philippine Development Plan (2017-2022), the challenges to STI includes weak STI culture, low government spending on STI, inadequate S&T human resources engaged in STI research and development, difficulty in increasing employment opportunities and retaining S&T human capital, difficulty in increasing employment opportunities and retaining S&T human capital, absence of a vibrant intellectual property culture, weak linkages among players in the STI ecosystem, restrictive regulations that hamper implementation of R&D programs and inadequate STI infrastructure.
    With the scholarship program provided by the DOST-SEI, the youth will be engaged in different science-related activities and more young innovators around the country will be given a great opportunity to show their talents and competencies in STI, officials of the government agency said.
    The reportedly helps fill the gap between people and science, presents its relevance, and strengthens STI in the country, like crucial applications in communities.
    With the Covid-19 pandemic, the DOST-SEI was not able to conduct national qualifying examination for two consecutive years. 
    For the academic year 2022-2023, a total of 10,487 students all over the country will be new science scholars.
There are 5, 567 qualifiers under the RA 7687 Scholarship Program while 4,920 qualified under the Merit Scholarship Program.
    In Cordillera, out of 1, 209 applicants, a total of 147 scholars from different provinces qualified.
    There were 77 qualifiers for the Republic Act 7687 program—a scholarship for talented and deserving students with a high aptitude for science coming from socio-economically disadvantaged families, and 70 qualifiers under the Merit Scholarship Program—students with high aptitude in science and mathematics who are willing to pursue a career related to science and technology.   
    Last June 30, the DOST-CAR held virtual orientation and signing of scholarship agreement with 2022 S&T undergraduate scholarship qualifiers from Abra, Apayao, Ifugao, Kalinga and Mountain Province.
    Baguio-Benguet qualifiers were oriented face-to-face on July 4.
    Resource speakers from Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas discussed financial management given that they will be receiving monetary privileges and other incentives.
    The lectures first focused on significance of savings and basics of investing.
    Students were cautioned on kinds of frauds and scams.
    Freda Macaling, a newly qualified scholar who chose a course as Bachelor of Science in Statistics, said, the program would keep her focused and grounded.
    Dr. Pepita S. Picpican, assistant regional director (ARD) of the Technical Services Division, congratulated qualifiers and reminded them of their scholarship obligations as they were expected to render service after graduation.
    DOST-SEI is now accepting applications for the 2022 Junior Level Science Scholarship (JLSS) through the E-scholarship Application System.
    For more information and details, t visit the official DOST-SEI Facebook page and website.
    The application ends on July 31 while the qualifying exam will be on August 27-28, 2022.
    The DOST-CAR urged students who are willing to take STEM-related courses to be one of their scholars.