EDUCATION FUND. A billboard shows the image of Cagayan de Oro City Mayor Rolando Uy (center) is put near the gate of the Balubal Elementary School on Sept. 8, 2022, welcoming residents as part of the local government's 'Serbisyo sa Barangay' program. For 2023, the local government has approved the Special Education Fund worth PHP350 million to help schools construct more buildings and other educational facilities. (File photo courtesy of Mayor Uy Facebook Page)
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – The city government's Local School Board (LSB) has approved the PHP350 million worth of Special Education Fund (SEF) for 2023.
In a statement Monday, Mayor Rolando Uy said aside from funding additional scholarships, the SEF will also be used for the improvement and construction of school buildings in different barangays.
Uy urged the LSB to work together, especially in helping the youth whose families are still living in poverty.
The SEF is sourced from the real property taxes collected by the city government.
Uy's move to renovate and build more school buildings and facilities is a continuation of the project of his predecessor, former Mayor Oscar Moreno.
"Since 2013, (former) Mayor Moreno and I (when I was serving as representatives) in Congress then, have partnered in building infrastructures that supported education programs of the city," Uy said.
The latest project approved by LSB this year was the construction of a four-story, 12-classroom building at the West City Central School worth HP66 million.
City college
Meanwhile, the city government also plans to include out-of-school youth to be beneficiaries in the proposed establishment of a city college.
Leading the technical working group is Cagayan de Oro Technical Vocational Institute School Vocational Administrator Maria Victoria Trinidad, who said the bulk of the beneficiaries will come from those who are not in school and unemployed.
"We will also be having some dialogues with the industries. After all, the products of the city college will be hopefully absorbed by our industries and companies and businesses here in the city," she said. (PNA)
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