Iloilo City- A total of 291 out of 469 third-year college students enrolled in various S&T courses from Western Visayas qualified for the Department of Science and Technology-Science Education Institute’s (DOST-SEI) 2017 Junior Level Science Scholarship (JLSS) Examination administered last November 19 nationwide. The new JLSS scholars will get to enjoy the scholarship effective the First Semester of Academic Year 2017-2018.

The JLSS is a scholarship program under the Republic Act No. 7687 or the “S&T Scholarship Act of 1994,” R.A. No. 10612 or the “Fast-Tracked S&T Scholarship Act of 2013,” and the R.A. No. 2067 or the Merit Scholarship Program.”

Said qualifiers to the program will enjoy two to three years of scholarship benefits. These include tuition subsidy, monthly stipend, book allowance, and others. On the other hand, passers of the Merit Scholarship will receive the same benefits as the latter except for the pro-rated monthly stipend based on the scholar’s socio-economic status.

The implementation of JLSS supports its primary goal of increasing the number of scientists and engineers that will help boost knowledge creation and economic productivity in the country. Under RA 10612, 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.

Aside from JLSS Scholarship, DOST also offers two other undergraduate scholarship programs for incoming first-year college students– RA 7687 Scholarship and DOST-SEI Merit Scholarship Program. These scholars enrolled in four or five-year S&T courses can enjoy the said scholarships provided they comply with the requirements set by the DOST-SEI.

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 with 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 2017 JLSS Examination Region VI passers and schedule of orientation and contract signing can be viewed at DOST Region VI facebook page. Meanwhile, the full list of passers can be accessed through DOST-SEI website at http://sei.dost.gov.ph/…/210-4-529-qualify-to-dost-sei-s-jl…. (DOST6/JRAGabiota)

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