New scholars Students line up to receive their notices of awards from the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) under the “Tulong Dunong” program of CHED. PNA

LAOAG CITY — 759 new scholars have received their notices of awards under the “Tulong Dunong” Program of the Commission on Higher Education’s Tertiary Education Subsidy at the Imelda Cultural Center in Batac City on Friday.

Danilo Bose, officer-in-charge of CHED Region 1, explained the program is meant to make education accessible to all wherein each beneficiary will receive PHP12,000 worth of financial assistance per year.

Ilocos Norte (2nd District) Rep. Eugenio Angelo Barba led the distribution of notices of awards to the new scholars who are coming from the second district of Ilocos Norte.

“We have simplified the requirements to accommodate more scholars,” said Barba, adding that the maximum annual income of parents per scholar was increased to P400,000 from P300,000.

Aside from the maximum annual income of their parents, each applicant must be a high school graduate and must not also be a recipient of any CHED scholarship or financial assistance program to qualify for the program.

The administration of the P4.1-billion supplemental fund was rechanneled from the lawmakers directly to CHED as an agency of the executive department following the Supreme Court ruling on the unconstitutionality of the Priority Development Assistance Fund six years ago.

Lawmakers are still allowed to recommend their beneficiaries to CHED, and existing beneficiaries will continue to receive assistance as long as they meet the guidelines stipulated by the Commission.

Barba reported that the beneficiaries are currently enrolled in both public and private schools in the province under the CHED program.