The new qualifiers to the Bangon Marawi Program in Science and Technology Human Resource Development (STHRD) were announced recently.
A program of the Department of Science and Technology—Science Education Institute (DOST-SEI), the Bangon Marawi scholarship program has 29 new qualifiers and four potential qualifiers.
The Bangon Marawi Program STHRD is a scholarship program granted to qualified second year students enrolled in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) courses who were affected by the armed conflict or were displaced from their communities during the Marawi siege in 2017.
The four potential qualifiers are 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-Iligan Institute of Technology and MSU-Lanao National College of Arts and Trades took the pen-and-paper qualifying examination on March 7 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 themselves of the grants will enjoy benefits, including a monthly stipend of P7,000, learning materials and/or connectivity allowance of P10,000 per academic year, among others.
Scholars will be able to benefit from the scholarship for a maximum of four years as a retroactive grant.
DOST-SEI Director Dr. Josette Biyo said, “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.”
Upon completion of their degree programs, scholars should 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 DOST’s responses to rebuild 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 in the undergraduate and graduate levels.
It has already produced 369 graduates with bachelor’s degree, 14 in the master’s program and four PhD scholar-graduates.
