The Department of Science and Technology-Science Education Institute (DOST-SEI) announced 29 new qualifiers to the DOST-SEI Bangon Marawi Program in Science and Technology Human Resource Development (STHRD), a scholarship program granted to qualified second year students enrolled in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) courses who were affected by the armed conflict or were displaced from their communities during the Marawi siege in 2017.
A total of 65 students enrolled in priority S&T programs at Mindanao State University-Main Campus (MSU-Main Campus), MSU-Iligan Institute of Technology (MSU-IIT) and MSU-Lanao National College of Arts and Trades (MSU-LNCAT) took the pen-and-paper qualifying examination last March 7 at the MSU-Main Campus in Marawi City.
Uplifting their hopes after the Marawi siege, the qualifiers who avail of the grants will enjoy benefits including a monthly stipend of ₱7,000, learning materials and/or connectivity allowance of ₱10,000 per academic year, among others, starting in the first semester of the 2022-2023 academic year. Scholars will be able to benefit from the scholarship for a maximum of four years as a retroactive grant.
As DOST-SEI Director Dr. Josette Biyo said, “I believe that STEM could create solutions to various societal problems we have today, thus, while Bangon Marawi Program is here, I encourage all students to grab the opportunity to pursue significant STEM careers and contribute to reviving Marawi.”
Upon completion of their degree programs, scholars shall be working in their fields of specialization in the country, ideally in their home regions, for a period equivalent to the length of years in which they enjoyed the scholarship.
The Bangon Marawi Program is one of the department’s responses to rebuild the human and social infrastructures of Marawi City after the 2017 siege. Since 2018, the program has provided scholarships for Marawi students enrolled in STEM courses in the undergraduate and graduate levels and has produced 369 graduates in the bachelor’s degree, 14 in the master’s program and four PhD scholar-graduates. (Story courtesy of DOST-SEI Media Relations; photo by Mafar/pia.gov.ph)