Cagayan de Oro City — The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Northern Mindanao has consulted school principals of secondary public schools of Northern Mindanao on the implementation of the extended age coverage of children-beneficiaries of Pantawid Pamiyang Pilipino Program (Pantawid Pamilya) here.
The consultation aims to solicit recommendations from the principals for policy enhancements, especially on the compliance of beneficiaries who are undergoing alternative delivery mode of formation in secondary education and those who are under non-formal formation of the Alternative Learning System of the Department of Education (DepEd); aside from lobbying to them the possible inclusion of youth development session to its Values Education subject.
The extended age coverage program of DSWD to former grantees of Pantawid Pamilya goes beyond the five-year limit to cover up to high school education; to extend the age coverage up to eighteen (18) years of age, taking into account the K-12 program of the Department of Education; to provide a higher grant amount of P500 per child in high school; and to maintain the limit of three child beneficiaries per household.
Lawyer Araceli F. Solamillo, Regional Director of DSWD Northern Mindanao, said the consultation will improve and strengthen partnership between DSWD and DepEd in serving the Pantawid Pamilya beneficiaries, especially on the education conditions of the program.
“We need to consult them because the extension of age coverage has modifications and changes in policies and activities,” explained the Regional Director.
One of the changes is higher grant package but a stricter rule in terms of completion of high school formation within a certain period of time.
She added DSWD has to address concerns and gaps in the implementation of the program by soliciting ideas from the school principals which can help enhance program policies of Pantawid Pamilya.
Also, considering that there are beneficiaries who failed to finish secondary education and are now out-of-school youth, the program seeks to cover children aged 15 to 18 years old who are undergoing formation under the Alternative Learning System of the DepEd.
“We hope that with the principals’ cooperation, DSWD can increase the employability of our clients in the future,” added Solamillo.
For the past five years, DepEd has been very supportive to DSWD in the implementation of the Pantawid Pamilya.
Pantawid Pamilya is the conditional cash transfer (CCT) of the national government. CCT programs were first demonstrated successful in Latin American countries two decades ago. As one of the pioneering CCT programs in Asia, the Pantawid Pamilya is a human capital investment program of the national government which ensures the health and education of poor children ages 0-14. This year, age coverage will be extended, from 0-14 to 0-18.
By providing opportunity for the development of the young, it envisions to prevent the vicious transmission of the cycle of poverty.
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