Give the youth a chance
The Rotary Club of Manila (RCM), the first Rotary in Asia formed in 1919, had recently donated ₱300,000 to vocational school Dualtech Training Center Foundation, Inc. for the benefit of its scholars.
Dualtech Training Center Foundation, Inc. is a private vocational school project founded in 1982 that pioneered in adapting the German dual approach apprenticeship in the Philippines, or what the educational institution calls “German Dual Training System.” Each year, the center trains over a thousand scholars from the poor sectors of society. It partners with several companies to prepare these students for eventual employment.
The scholarship program costs ₱65,000 for the first six months. It includes board and lodging, uniform, and training on electro-mechanical instruments. Schooling is followed by a year and a half of on-the-job training (OJT) with allowances from participating companies.
On July 13, 2021, the immediate past president (IPP) of RCM, Bobby Joseph, with Dir. Thad Liamzon, and STAR Rtn. Anton Mauricio, met with the management of Dualtech Center in Carmelray Industrial Park I, Canlubang, Calamba City to discuss a joint project that supports six months of skills training, as well as values and morals formation discipline.
The organization is working among members to increase sponsorship through fundraising among RCM members and other Rotary Clubs around Metro Manila and nearby provinces. “We’ll be going national through digital media and corporate foundations. Foreign grants among Rotary Clubs abroad are moving to our desired directions,” explains Bobby.
The donation and collaboration have been made despite RCM’s difficult situation due to the pandemic, admits the former RCM president. “We pray that a solution should come before the end of the year,” he adds.
‘International competitive education is a must. Theory and application go hand in hand with reinforced family values, high moral character, professional skills training, patriotism, and discipline.’
The club is looking into the possibility of getting global grants to acquire electromagnetic equipment to make students globally competitive.
“International competitive education is a must. Theory and application go hand in hand with reinforced family values, high moral character, professional skills training, patriotism, and discipline,” says Bobby.
RCM has been known to support various scholarship programs including for Letran College of Accountancy, Polytechnic University of the Philippines, and Gov’t University of Manila, as well as Paraiso Farms with its education and retraining of young and elder farmers in Batangas. Other tie-ups are with the International School of Sustainable Tourism (ISST) with former Department of Tourism (DOT) Secretary Mina Gabor, and with the League of Tourism Students of the Philippines.
“The youth has to be motivated, inspired, and disciplined. A change of attitude must be taught to guide them toward the right purpose in being a good citizen. They have to learn simple living, to be hardworking, frugal, persevering, compassionate, competent, confident, and above all, loving of the country, community, and God,” says Bobby on engaging others to support the youth.