633 students from WV hurdle DOST-SEI test

OUT of 9,852 qualifiers nationwide, 633 senior high school students from Western Visayas qualified for scholarships offered by the Department of Science and Technology-Science Education Institute.

The DOST-SEI test pertains to Republic Act 7687 (Science and Technology Scholarship Act of 1994) and Merit Scholarship Program (formerly known as the NSDB or NSTA Scholarship under RA No. 2067) administered last October 21, 2018.

Based on DOST records, 464 passed the RA 7687 test and 169 in the Merit Scholar Program.

DOST is devoted to accelerating the development of science and technology for socio-economic development.

The Science and Technology (S&T) Scholarship Program is available for both undergraduate and graduate level scholarships, to those who meet the minimum grade requirement and those qualified by the S&T Scholarship Examination.

DOST offers three undergraduate scholarship programs– RA 7687 Scholarship, DOST-SEI Merit Scholarship Program and the RA 10612, known as Junior Level Science Scholarship.

RA 7687 Scholarship (RA 7687) provides scholarship slots to poor but deserving students whose families’ annual gross incomes do not exceed the poverty threshold limit.

The other scholarship referred to as DOST-SEI Merit Scholarship Program is awarded to students with high aptitude in science and mathematics and are willing to pursue careers in the fields of science and technology.

On the other hand, RA 10612 or Junior Level Science Scholarship is offered to third year college students who are enrolled in S&T priority courses at:

• any State Universities and Colleges (SUC),
• other private universities or colleges with CHED compliant programs, CHED identified Centers of Excellence (COE) or Centers of Development (COD) for the priority S&T courses, and
• Institutions with FAAP Level III Accreditation.

The qualifiers shall enjoy financial benefits which include tuition subsidy, monthly stipend, book allowance, and others.

The implementation of these scholarships supports DOST’s primary goal of increasing the number of scientists and engineers that will help boost knowledge creation and economic productivity in the country.

The execution of the K to 12 law is supported by creating a pool of scholar-graduates that can competently teach science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) in the basic education level.

S&T scholars will be required to render service to the country upon graduation for a period equivalent to the number of years they availed of the said scholarship.

Likewise, the RA 7687 and Merit scholars are expected to work along their fields of specialization while those under RA 10612 shall serve as STEM teachers in any public or private high school in the country.

The list of 2019DOST Scholarship Examination Region VI passers can be viewed at DOST Region VI Facebook page.

Meanwhile, the full list of passers can be accessed through DOST-SEI website: http://www.sei.dost.gov.ph/images/downloads/2019DOSTSEIQualifiers.pdf?fbclid=IwAR3FIAxzqTPnOpTM1TJM5l5-Dx_OPq-aZ6avQLefwEJLST1maucnUqs4fTw . (DOST-6/J. R. A. Gabiota)