Systematic Effort to Increase National Government Assistance to Students

September 10, 1984

LETTER OF INSTRUCTIONS NO. 1424

DIRECTING A SYSTEMATIC EFFORT TO INCREASE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT ASSISTANCE TO STUDENTS

WHEREAS, the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports administers various programs intended to assist students mainly through scholarship and loan programs;

WHEREAS, it is necessary to review the terms and conditions of these student assistance programs in view of the rising cost of education;

WHEREAS, LOI No. 1405 issued on May 1, 1984 directed the expansion of the study now pay later plan;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by Law, do hereby Order and Instruct:

1. The Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports shall increase the number of slots available in the various scholarship and grant in said programs that it administers. It shall review the terms and conditions of scholarships and grants in aid, with the aim of liberalizing qualifying requirements, including the extension of preferential treatment to the children of schoolteachers and education support personnel.

2. The Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports shall develop and encourage student assistantships and other work programs intended for students working their way through school;

3. The Educational Assistance Policy Council shall reassess the terms and conditions of the study now pay later program, with the view to increase the number and/or size of loans granted, liberalize the qualifying requirements for loans, and expand the regional/school/course distribution of recipients; cd i

4. Budgetary savings of the Ministries of Education, Culture and Sports and of Labor and Employment may be utilized to augment the resources of scholarship, grant and loan programs for students;

5. The administration of the scholarship, grant, loan and other student assistance programs of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports shall be improved with the creation of a single student assistance center, combining existing organizational units separately handling scholarship, loan, grant and other programs of financial assistance to the students. The center shall act as Secretariat to the Educational Assistance Policy Council;

DONE in the City of Manila, this 10th day of September, Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Four.