The Department of Science and Technology – Science Education Institute (DOST-SEI) announced that 29 students have qualified for its Bangon Marawi Program in Science and Technology Human Resource Development (STHRD), a scholarship program for those affected by the armed conflict or were displaced from their communities during the Marawi siege in 2017.
DOST-SEI said that the scholarship is for qualified second-year students enrolled in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) courses.
In addition, four more potential qualifiers – whose names do not appear on the published list – are also under consideration, pending resubmission of requirements for further evaluation.
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 on March 7, 2023 at the MSU-Main Campus, Marawi City, Lanao del Sur.
With the aim to uplift the hopes of the youth after the Marawi siege, qualifiers who will avail of the grants will enjoy benefits including a monthly stipend of ₱7,000.00, learning materials and/or connectivity allowance of ₱10,000.00 per academic year, among others, starting in the First Semester of Academic Year 2022-2023. Scholars will be able to benefit from the scholarship for a maximum of four years as a retroactive grant.
“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,” DOST-SEI Director Dr. Josette Biyo said.
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 rebuilding 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 at the undergraduate and graduate levels and has produced 369 graduates with a bachelor’s degree, 14 in the master's program, and four PhD scholar-graduates.