TUGUEGARAO CITY, Philippines- At most 10 students from 81 applicants on Monday, February 12, are expected to be given college scholarships as SM Foundation Incorporated opened their program for the first time in this city, at SM Center Tuguegarao Downtown.
Selected SM scholars will get full tuition, monthly allowance, part-time job opportunities from SM during semestral and Christmas breaks, exclusive job offers from SM after graduation, and other fun-filled activities and enrichment programs.
SM college scholars will also have a choice of specialization from accounting, information technology, engineering, or education.
Applicants took an exam and underwent interview on Monday. SM’s evaluating team will also conduct home visitation to ensure prospective scholars deserve the privilege.
SM Foundation Scholarship Programs Assistant Vice President Eleanor Lansang said the applicants’ turnout is a good number considering that this is their first year of opening the program in Tuguegarao City.
“We’re very happy that we have already started here in Tuguegarao. This will be a yearly activity already, so every year we will have more and more scholars. Tuluy-tuloy na yan,” Lansang said.
“Exam results were very good [and] we see na very determined yung mga bata and bright talaga [sila]. Hopefully they’ll become successful engineers, accountants, teachers, and IT professionals,” she added.
The college scholarship program aims to uplift lives of less-privileged but deserving student applicants, Lansang said. The program was initiated by SM founder and chair Henry Sy Sr who wanted to have at least one scholar from a family, she added.
“This is already a big help and [scholars] can [later on] send their siblings to school. So very important sa kanya ang education that’s why meron tayong college scholarship,” Lansang said.
The SM official also said, in order to encourage students to study harder in college, scholars will have to maintain a grade of 2.5 or above satisfactory grades.
“Kayang-kaya naman yan, based on our experience. There are a lot more scholars who excel and graduate as cum laude, summa cum laude, [and] some even top the boards. I have no doubt naman that Tuguegarao [students] can do that,” Lansang said.
“We hope also that this scholarship can boost their energies [to study] so that they can really pursue their dreams and excel academically,” she added.
Meanwhile, Lansang clarified that scholars are not offered a contract obligating them to work at SM in the future. Instead, scholars are assured they will be prioritized if they apply for work at SM.
This October 2018, SM Foundation will again open applications for college scholarships to Grade 12 students. Details of scholarship and list of requirements are posted at www.sm-foundation.org.
In Region 02, SM Foundation first started opening the program in Cauayan City. Last May, they had their first batch of graduates from Cauayan. Northernforum.net
