Project FREE to award scholarships

MANILA, Philippines - Today will mark another significant event in the history of education. Project FREE (Flagships to Reach Educational Excellence) will award Certificates of Scholarship to over 2,000 public elementary and secondary school teachers who passed the admission examinations held in Tarlac last Sept. 11 and Oct. 2.

Project FREE will enable qualified scholar-teachers to obtain their masteral and doctoral degrees in education in order to upgrade their credentials and enhance their knowledge and skills.

Sponsored by the Eduardo Cojuangco Foundation (ECF), implemented by the University of St. La Salle, in cooperation with the Tarlac State University, and with the support of Department of Education’s Divisions of Tarlac Province and Tarlac City, Project FREE aims to help improve the quality of basic education received by the Filipino child by reaching them through their teachers.

ECF Chairman Eduardo M. Cojuangco Jr. and Gretchen O. Cojuangco will award the certificates of scholarship to qualified grantees. Cojuangco has allocated a P42-million budget for Project FREE.

A total of 2,826 Tarlac elementary and high school public school teachers took the examinations. Ms. Evangeline Bognot from Maliwalo High School, Tarlac City, topped the qualifying exams and 2,250 will be awarded scholarships.

Invited to attend the awarding of certificates of scholarship are the Secretary of the Department of Education, Br. Armin A. Luistro, FSC, DepEd Region 3 Director Dr. Teofila R. Villanueva, DepEd Tarlac Province Superintendent Dr. Antonieta B. Tiotuico, DepEd Tarlac City Superintendent Dr. Lilia M. Santiago, Tarlac State University President Dr. Priscilla Viuya, University of St. La Salle President Br. Raymundo B. Suplido, FSC, PhD, De La Salle University - Dasmariñas President Br. Augustine Boquer, FSC and Br. Bernard Oca, FSC, Vice Chancellor of De La Salle University.

“By educating teachers, we hope to raise the standards for our schools” said Cojuangco. “In terms of scope, it’s very ambitious, but the program itself... can be easily replicated in other provinces.

“I know from my own experience, that good teachers can make all the difference. When a child has a good education, he or she is set for life.

“Project Free strives to improve the training and mentoring process for teachers, so that they have the confidence to then go out and pass on what they know and what they have learned to their students.

“I share a vision of a society where every child grows up able to aspire and has a ladder of opportunity that a solid education can provide. A solid education that can only come from talented, well-trained and well-informed teachers.

“Project Free is our attempt to... create a system of education in the hands of many: regardless of where they live, and regardless of their background and economic class.”