Marikina LGU comes to students’rescue

The Marikina City government has shouldered the tuition of more than 4,000 students who are no longer receiving financial support from the government under the Senior High School Voucher Program.

According to Marikina Mayor Marcelino "Marcy" Teodoro, the Department of Education has stopped providing financial subsidies to Senior High School (Grades 11 and 12) through the voucher system due to budget cut, but the city government did not allow such impediment to happen.

"We have 4,800 students affected by the loss of the voucher, so we had to have a supplemental for these students," Teodoro told DAILY TRIBUNE in an interview over the weekend.

For students entering senior high school in the National Capital Region or Metro Manila, the maximum voucher amount is P22,500.

Under this program, students will be given subsidies ranging from P8,750 to P22,500, depending on the schools' region and area.

Teodoro said they have increased the number of enrollees in senior high school at the LGU-run Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Marikina.

"PLMar has two campuses, so the number of enrollees in public high schools have been reduced and went to the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Marikina," he said.

"The good thing is that the program for the senior high school is integrated to tertiary education. They are enjoying free tuition from senior high school until college," the mayor added.

Teodoro also said that most schools in Marikina City are implementing single shift per day.

"For now, based on the inspections and the data that were submitted to me, we have no shortage of classrooms and teachers," he said.

Just recently, the city government, with the help of Rep. Marjorie Ann "Maan" Teodoro, has opened a new school building in Industrial Valley to address shortage in the city.

"The school population is small because we just opened the Industrial Valley National High School, a new school at the first district which is a project of Congresswoman Maan," Teodoro said.