CEBU, Philippines - State pension fund Government Service Insurance System partnered with the Department of Education for the 2014 Brigada Eskwela and Adopt-a-School programs, as part of its corporate social responsibility.
GSIS's branch offices will also participate in the Brigada activities in their respective areas.
Together with the Brigada Eskwela, GSIS will further adopt a total of 17 schools under DepEd's Adopt-a-School program. The program encourages partner agencies from the government and private sectors, to address the needs of government schools, located in the poorest provinces or low-income municipalities.
As pilot implementation, GSIS initially chose four recipient schools each in Visayas and Mindanao and three schools each in NCR, North Luzon and South Luzon.
Among the areas of assistance that GSIS will provide for these schools include, support for infrastructure/physical facilities, health and nutrition, reading program, technology, and training and development.
"These programs offer volunteer opportunities for our employees, as good corporate citizens, to make a difference outside of the work they do on behalf of our members," President and General Manager Robert Vergara said.
On a related matter, GSIS said that the GSIS Scholarship Program, another CSR endeavor, will still accept applications until May 30.
GSP provides an opportunity for children of low-income GSIS members to earn a college degree. GSIS will shoulder up to Php20,000 of the actual cost of tuition and miscellaneous fees of the selected scholar per semester. The scholars will also get a monthly stipend of Php2,000.
GSP application forms are available at any GSIS branch office and maybe downloaded from the GSIS website, www.gsis.gov.ph. (FREEMAN)