The Department of Science and Technology Cordillera Administrative Region (DOST-CAR) conducted the 2017 Junior Level Science Scholarship (JLSS) Orientation and Signing of Scholarship Agreement cum Formation Program for Department of Science and Technology Science Education Institute (DOST-SEI) Scholars at the Hotel Veniz Function Hall, Baguio City on February 9, 2018.
Eighty-one qualifiers, together with their parents or guardians, of the JLSS Program of the DOST-SEI received orientation on the policies and guidelines of the program. It was noted during the welcome remarks given by Dr. Nancy A. Bantog, Assistant Regional Director for Technical Services of DOST-CAR and Scholarship Coordinator, that out of the 82 students who qualified for the scholarship, 67 are from CAR. She further reiterated that the Science and Technology scholarship of DOST is competitive and serves as the Philippine government’s solution to filling the gap in terms of Research and Development (R&D) of human resource in the country. She then cited the DOST 2013 R&D Survey wherein there are only 270 R&D personnel per one million population in the country as compared to the 380 R&D personnel per million population standard set by UNESCO. She then challenged and encouraged the qualifiers, “You internalize our need of each of you to close the 110 R&D personnel per million population gap. Think of the bigger picture…of who you are in the development of the Philippines”.
During the program proper, Ms. Noveme-an M. A-ayo, Project Assistant II of the Scholarship Unit, discussed the policies and guidelines of the DOST-SEI JLSS Program, highlighting the objectives of the program and differences of the three scholarship programs namely; R.A. 2067, R.A. 7687 and R.A. 10612 followed by a rundown of the provisions of the scholarship agreement.
This was followed by a discussion led by Dr. Asterio Madalla of DepEd-CAR on the Hiring guidelines of R.A. 10612. The “Fast Tracked S&T Scholarship Act of 2013”, or R.A. 10612, including a provision for a teaching incentive contract in which scholars are required to teach full-time high school subjects in Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry or Physics; or Information Technology, Agriculture, Aquaculture or Fisheries Technology, both in the university and technical-vocational tracks in the secondary education curriculum for a minimum of two years. Scholarship under R.A. 10612, which has been implemented since 2014, is for S&T non-BSED courses only. At present, there are 20 qualifiers of the 2017 JLSS program who are under R.A. 10612.
The orientation and signing of the contract was followed by a Formation Program aimed to prime the scholars’ hearts and minds in committing themselves to love, serve, and make sacrifices for the Philippines and to take the lead in nation building and securing the country by using their knowledge, skills and capabilities in science and technology.
The program was commenced by Ms. Maritess A. Banaña, Project Assistant III of the Scholarship Unit, with an activity designed to “humanize” the scholars by exploring their strengths, values, attitudes and motivations in life to help them understand the concept of patriotism. This was followed by a presentation of Dr. Bantog entitled? “I am a Filipino Patriot Scholar”, followed by “Talk: The Filipino Patriot Scholar” a testimony from Dr. Jerico B. Bacani, UP Baguio Graduate and former DOST-SEI Scholar. The session was concluded with a short discussion on the dreams of the scholars for themselves, for the nation and what they can do for the country through their future professions.** divina gracia castillo