The ranks of the DOST scholars in Negros Oriental are expected to swell with the influx of new scholars for the 2014-2015 academic year. A total of 69 students from the province–the biggest batch yet–have been added to the roster of DOST scholarship qualifiers. They will reinforce the 121 ongoing DOST scholars in two universities in the province.
This new batch of local qualifiers includes 63 incoming freshmen who passed the nationwide 2014 DOST-SEI Undergraduate Scholarship Examination held last September 22, 2013, as well as 6 incoming third year students who passed the 2013 DOST-SEI S&T Scholarships for Sophomore College Students Examination held last November 24, 2013.
Of the 63 freshmen qualifiers, 2 were students from the Philippine Science High School-Argao Campus in Cebu. The rest came from the different high schools throughout Negros Oriental. Of the 6 sophomore students, 2 came from Silliman University, 1 from NORSU, 2 from University of St. Lasalle (Bacolod City) and 1 from University of San Carlos (Cebu City).
The local passing rate for the 2014 DOST-SEI Undergraduate Scholarship Examination was 11.25 percent (65 out of 560 examinees). While this figure is below the 2013 passing rate (14.52 percent, or 45 out of 310 examinees) and the national passing rate (18.62 percent, or 3,982 out of 21,388 examinees), the number of local qualifiers actually increased by 40% over the previous yearӼs result.
This rise may be attributed mainly to the greater participation of the different schools throughout the province, resulting in more applications. For the first time the DOST scholarship examination in the province was conducted in two venues–the regular one in District 2 (Dumaguete City) and a new one in District 1 (La Libertad). And for the first time all 25 municipalities and cities in Negros Oriental were finally able to produce scholarship qualifiers. This 100 percent coverage marks a 56 percent jump over last year”ºs 64 percent coverage (16 of 25). (Gilbert Rotea Arbon)
