The Rizal provincial government announced Thursday that it has allotted some P12,040,000 which will help cover scholarship grants to some 1,358 poor but deserving province-based students for the second semester of school year 2009-2010.

Rizal Gov. Casimiro “Junjun” Ynares III said the latest number is on top of some 1,533 students already given scholarship grants last semester. He described the grants as a step closer to the provincial government’s agenda, which is to bring to zero the illiteracy rate in Rizal’s 14 localities and promote education in the province.

Ynares said that under the provincial government’s Rizal College Scholarship Program (RCSP), scholars get an annual subsidy of P20,000. Aside from the scholars, the provincial government is likewise farming out an annual P5,000 financial aid to other students, who fall short of their requirements.

“What we are doing for the past 17 years (dating back to the time of my father, former Rizal Gov. Casimiro M. Ynares, Jr.) is to ensure accessibility of poor but deserving students to college education, thus preparing them to become globally competitive,” Ynares said in a statement.

Ynares added that on top of the scholarships and financial assistance, the local government has 10 satellite campuses of the University of Rizal System (URS), which offers college and post graduate courses.

The state university, it was recalled, was established in 2001 under Republic Act 9157 by the integration of three academic institutions: the Rizal State College, the Rizal Polytechnic College, and the Rizal Technological University-Antipolo Annex. The conversion of these three institutions into one pioneering university system was the work of former Congressman Gilberto “Bibit” Duavit.

The Rizal provincial government likewise provides scholarships for vocational and technical courses underscoring the demand for skilled workers.

Based on data gathered by the Rizal Public Information Office, the provincial government’s RCSP has already sent thousands of scholars since it was created in 1996. Of these figures, six graduated magna cum laude and 27 as cum laude.