(Sunstar Baguio)
THE Baguio City Government allotted 350 slots for the Special Program for the Employment of Students (SPES) in two batches to accommodate all the students from schools with the regular calendar and those who just started their summer break.
Janna Vivien Elitan, in-charge of the SPES program, on Monday, June 26, said this year’s slots increased by 50 from 300 in 2016 after the Public Employment Service Offices (Peso) office recorded the big number of students applying under the program.
Out of the more than 700 applicants, there were over 500 new comers, the others belonging to what they call “SPES babies,” or who have been with the program more than once.
Elitan said there are those who have availed of the program four times, adding that there is no prohibition as to the number of times a student can avail of the program because the record would show that there are really those who are able to complete their college education with the help provided by the program.
Each student qualifier works for a total of 30 working days. The first batch for this year completed the program from April 24 to June 5 and the second batch will start on June 13 and complete it by July 25.
Some colleges and universities in the city have adopted the August to May school calendar while there are some who remained to have the June to March school calendar.
Elitan said each student receives a salary of P453.68 a day. The city government pays 60 percent of the amount while the Department of Labor and Employment (Dole) pays 40 percent. For 30 days of work, the student gets P8,166.24 from the City Government.
“They receive their pay from the city immediately at the end of the program which they use to pay for their tuition,” said Elitan.
The Dole releases 40 percent of the salary upon presentation of the certificate of enrollment of the student.
The program beneficiaries are those students 15 to 30 years old, physically fit and belonging to families with an annual net income of not more than P130,620, which amount is prescribed by the National Economic Development Authority.
The student beneficiary, she added, can only avail of the program if they passed all their subjects and are continuously enrolled.
Jose Atanacio, Peso officer of Baguio, said the City Government continues to increase the number of slots to accommodate more and help more students belonging to the low-income families finish their studies.