COLLEGE SCHOLARS. Mayor Salvador Escalante Jr. (center) joins applicants of the Cadiz City Education Assistance Program on Saturday (Feb. 17, 2024). Escalante said after providing scholarships for more than 20 years, the local government is ready to establish a community college. (Photo courtesy of Cadiz City Mayor’s Office)
BACOLOD CITY – The City of Cadiz in northern Negros Occidental will establish its own tertiary educational institution to keep up its advocacy of providing scholarships.
Every year for more than two decades now, the local government allocates PHP32 million for the Cadiz City Education Assistance Program (CCEAP).
The CCEAP funds the education of some 5,000 students enrolled in private and state colleges and universities each year.
“Our CCEAP allocation per year is more than enough to run a city/community college. We are now in the stage of finalizing the plan,” Mayor Salvador Escalante Jr. said in a statement on Tuesday.
Considered for course offerings by the planned institution are information technology and tourism.
While other educational scholarship programs only accept academically excellent students or poor but deserving ones, the CCEAP is open to everyone.
“It is not biased against those who are only average students. As long as the city government can afford it, we will not be choosy,” Escalante said.
A brainchild of the mayor himself, the CCEAP is inspired by the life stories of Filipino-Chinese tycoons who were average students during their college days.
“They eventually excelled in business. Who knows? Some Cadiz students may be mediocre now, but could also be the best in their chosen endeavors in the future,” Escalante said. (PNA)
