THE Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) yesterday said it has distributed P935.971 million worth of educational assistance to 372,298 student beneficiaries nationwide.
The amount covers the period August 22 to September 10.
The updated figures were released a day after Social Welfare Secretary Erwin Tulfo announced that the department was closing registration for the educational aid, after more than two million student-registrants.
DSWD records showed that P261.208 million was distributed to 104,326 beneficiaries on September 10 – the fourth day of implementation of the department’s educational assistance for students in crisis situations.
Records show that around 33.26 percent of the beneficiaries are college or vocational students who received P4,000 worth of aid each, while 30.77 percent of the beneficiaries are elementary students who received P1,000 cash aid each.
Junior high school students who received P2,000 cash aid accounted for 22.84 percent of the beneficiaries while senior high school students who received P3,000 cash assistance each accounted for 14.01 percent of the beneficiaries.
The distribution will run until September 24.
The DSWD department will be coordinating with the House of Representatives for the possible adoption by district representatives of the students who did not qualify for the DSWD’s educational assistance program.
DSWD allotted P1.5 billion for the one-time aid for indigent students or students in crisis including breadwinners, working students, orphans, children of solo parents, and children of jobless parents, among others.
The department expects to distribute the cash aid to around 375,000 to 400,000 students-in-crisis this year.
The financial aid is limited to a maximum of three students per family and is distributed as P1,000 for qualified elementary students, P2,000 for qualified high school students, P3,000 for qualified senior high school students, and P4,000 for qualified vocational/college students.
