MIGRANT WATCH
OFW Dependents Seek Higher, More Accessible
Scholarships
According to a migrants’
group, the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) does not live up
to its name because it deprives OFWs of much-needed assistance. The
educational benefits of dependents of OFWs remain minuscule and
inaccessible due to stringent requirements, among others.
BY RONALYN V. OLEA
Bulatlat
A group of dependents
of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) will petition for higher and more
accessible scholarship grants before the Overseas Workers’ Welfare
Administration (OWWA) on March 17.
Mac Ramirez, general
secretary of Migrante Youth, said over the weekend that OFWs and their
families do not get the benefits and services they deserve.
The country’s
national income has, for years, been buttressed by dollar remittances of
OFWs. The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP, or Central Bank of the
Philippines) revealed that in 2004 alone, OFWs remitted $8.5 billion or
about 11 percent of the gross domestic product or local output. IBON
Foundation, an independent research think-tank, said that six percent of
the Filipino families are largely dependent on remittances from OFWs.
In addition, the
government reportedly earns about P17 billion ($314.06 million, based on
an exchange rate of P54.13 per U.S. dollar) from taxes paid by OFWs,
according to Migrante International. The latter is a worldwide alliance of
Filipino migrant groups.
There are around
eight million OFWs in 180 counties, accounting for roughly 10 percent of
the population. Every day, at least 3,300 Filipinos leave the country to
work abroad.
Limited
The OWWA collects a
mandatory $25-membership fee from all OFWs and the OWWA fund currently
stands at P8 billion ($147.79 million). Ramirez said, however, “What we
receive from educational benefits is pitiful.”
OFWs and their
dependents are entitled to educational and training benefits as stipulated
in the Article VIII Section 5-B of the Omnibus Policy. Grants offered are:
Skills for Employment Scholarship Program (SESP) for six-month to one-year
courses; Education for Development Scholarship Program (EDSP) for
four-year to five-year courses; and Seafarers Upgrading Program.
The OWWA allots P6
million ($110,844.26) each for SESP and EDSP. There are only 399
beneficiaries of SESP and 100 recipients of EDSP. An SESP recipient for a
six-month course receives P7,250 ($133.94) while a beneficiary taking up a
one-year course gets P14,500 ($267.87). EDSP scholars get P10,000
($184.74) for tuition and P20,000 ($369.48) for allowance.
Low
benefits
Ramirez said, “The financial assistance
provided for OFW dependents is not enough for them to finish schooling.”
According to the
Commission on Higher Education (CHED), the average tuition in the National
Capital Region is pegged at P614.54 ($11.35) per unit. This means that
for a 21-unit load, a student must pay P12,905.34 ($238.41).
The average tuition
in the country stands at P347.41 ($6.42) or P7,295.61 ($134.78) for a
21-unit load. A survey by CHED shows that the average cost of nine items
in the miscellaneous fees is P2,297.64 ($42.45).
In 1998, the Philippine Education Sector
Study (PESS) revealed that a
student in a private school needs an additional P6,900 ($127.47) every
month to cover transportation expenses, allowance and other expenditures.
Inaccessible
Ramirez also
complained that the OWWA has imposed stringent requirements for
applicants. They must now pass the examinations administered by the
Department of Science and Technology (DOST), must belong to the top 20
percent of his/her class and must have an average not lower than 85
percent. The age requirement is 21 years old and below. Ramirez said that
as a result, only a handful of OFW dependents qualify for the scholarship
programs.
In addition, SESP
recipients may only enroll at schools accredited by the Technical
Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA).
Moreover, Ramirez
said that the Omnibus Policy no longer provides benefits for returned
migrants. Only those with current contracts may avail of the loans and
other benefits. The OWWA also does not provide assistance to undocumented
and terminated migrant workers.
Reimbursement
Ramirez said what is
more enraging is the fact that scholars who failed to finish their course
for whatever reasons are obliged to reimburse in full what he/she received
from OWWA. “How does OWWA expect us to graduate when they provide measly
amount for our schooling?” According to him, the drop out rate at the
tertiary level is 73 percent.
Ironically, Ramirez
said that the funds for these educational benefits come from the OFWs.
“How cruel of this government to deprive us of the fruits of our parents’
labor!”
Ramirez also
criticized OWWA’s Tuloy-Aral Program (Continue Schooling Program) for
elementary and high school students. The OWWA aims to send 1,200 kids
back to school through $100-donation from well-to-do OFWs.
“The audacity of the
OWWA knows no bounds. While it claims as its project the Tuloy-Aral
Program, it is still the OFWs who will shoulder their alleged charity
work,” he said. Bulatlat
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