The city government here is now accepting in-school and out-of school youths aged 15 to 25 years old who are interested to avail of the Special Program for the Employment Students (SPES).
Dumaguete City PESO Officer Socorro Mira said they are prioritizing students from public high schools who belong to families whose income does not exceed the national poverty threshold level set by the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA).
“For in-school applicants, we are choosing those high school graduates who are entering college level,” said Mira in an interview with Philippine Information Agency.
SPES is mandated under Republic Act No. 9547 which aims to help poor but deserving students pursue their education by providing income or augmenting it through employment during summer.
There are 160 slots open for the SPES program in the city this year.
Said program is implemented in partnership with the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) on a 60-40 counterpart scheme.
“The acceptor, which in this case is the city government, covers 60 percent of the stipend, and the 40 percent is from DOLE,” said Mira.
Each SPES beneficiary will receive P200 as a daily stipend.
The city government here earlier appropriated around P384,000 as its counterpart fund for the daily stipend of each SPES beneficiary.
“Each beneficiary will get a total of P4,000 for the 20-day internship. This is already a big help for the students and their parents, especially in helping cover some of the students’ tuition fees,” she said.
Mira added that although there are many youths in the city who will qualify for the program, the city government’s budget is, however, limited for only 160 slots.
Interview and screening of applicants started on March 19 and will end on April 10. The list of accepted applicants will be posted on April 13 outside the city PESO office.
The opening ceremony is scheduled on April 16 which will kick off the 20-day internship program.
For the duration of the program, SPES beneficiaries are expected to undergo skills trainings from the City Livelihood and Home Industries Development Office (CLHIDO) in the mornings, and work in community activities such as clean-up drives in the afternoon under the supervision of the General Services Office (GSO).
Mira made an appeal to parents who can afford the tuition fees of their school children, “Please do not let your children come here to apply for the program, because we need to give this only to those who are financially constrained to help them save money for their tuition costs,” she said. (RMN-PIA 7, Negros Oriental)
