TAGBILARAN CITY, Bohol, March 22, 2014 (PIA)—For the chance to push kids into college and into profitable and employable technical and vocational skills in the 15-18 year-old high school training, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) raises the age coverage for Pantawid Pamilya beneficiaries.
Form its usual 0-14, which would allow infants, preschoolers, toddlers, elementary school and high school kids some health assistance of P500 and educational assistance of P300, DSWD now also trains its eyes on children in schools aged 15-18.
Currently the Pantawid Pamilya program provides health and education grants to children beneficiaries aged 0-14 only but with the extension program, the age coverage is being extended until 18 years old, says DSWD’s Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program information Officer Aileen Lariba in an email.
The year 2014 is a new beginning for more than 140,000 Pantawid Pamilya beneficiaries especially for those ages 15-18 years old who dream of going to college or getting a better job, she revealed.
She said one of the reasons for this move is to help children beneficiaries of Pantawid Pamilya finish high school and get at least a 2 year course in college, giving them a greater chance for a better employment and become competitive in the professional world.
It also compliments the Department of Education’s K-12 program, she added.
This month of April, DSWD will then start its implementation of the extension age coverage of 15-18 years with a validation kick off, she said.
During validation, parents of children beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilya program are advised to prepare the children’s birth certificates and certificate of enrolment to facilitate registration.
The expansion program will still require an 85% attendance in school but will receive a higher educational grant which covers 15-18 years old.
Households with no children enrolled in the elementary will no longer receive the P500/ month cash grant for health.
The selection of children aged 3-18 for education monitoring will be based on the existing policy which is, “the household shall select from among the children whom to monitor, replace and additional children beneficiaries to complete the three children limit per household, provided that these children are included in the household roster,” according to Lariba.
The existing children beneficiaries 0-14 will continue to be monitored and should abide by the program’s set conditions of visiting the health center and attending Family Development Session at least once a month and an 85% attendance in school to continually receive their cash grant of P500/month for health and P300/month for education.
No comments:
Post a Comment