COCAFM PUSHES FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF ACEF SCHOLARSHIP

The Congressional Oversight Committee on Agricultural and Fisheries Modernization (COCAFM) is pushing for the immediate implementation of a comprehensive Scholarship Program which will be funded by the Agricultural Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (ACEF).

It can be noted that Congress enacted into law Republic Act No. 9496 which extended the utilization period of the ACEF, and Section 8 of RA 9496 states that 10 percent of the Fund shall be set aside and earmarked for funding of a comprehensive scholarship program for agriculture, forestry, fisheries, and veterinary medicine education. Department Order No. 19 or the Implementing Rules and Regulation (IRR) of RA 9496 specified that the scholarship program applies to both graduate and undergraduate levels and include allied disciplines such as environmental and marine science, hydrology, renewable energy and agribusiness management programs.

However, there is a need for the issuance of a revised set of guidelines for this purpose to govern the funding of a comprehensive scholarship program which will be bankrolled by the 10 percent of the total available funds in Special Fund 183 of ACEF as of March 2009.

In the recently held en banc meeting of COCAFM, Senator Loren Legarda, chairman of the Senate committee on agriculture and concurrently the COCAFM, urged the Department of Agriculture (DA) to work for the immediate approval of the guidelines that will govern the scholarship program.

"It is important that the scholarship program guidelines be approved by the ACEF - Executive Committee to start the program so I requested the DA to schedule an ACEF meeting before classes starts and before the adjournment of Congress this mid-year" Loren said.

The lady senator said that a draft of the guidelines has already been prepared and it has to be reviewed first by the ACEF-EXECOM and approved by Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap after consultation with the COCAFM.

Congressman Abraham Khalil Mitra, co-chair of COCAFM, for his part, said that many congressmen are also inquiring on how to avail of the scholarship program so that their constituents could benefit from it. He also wants that more small farmers and fishermen could avail of the ACEF program.

Mitra also informed the members of the COCAFM that Sen. Ramon Magsaysay Jr., who initiated the Young Farmers Program (YFP), asked him to work for the revival or rekindling of the implementation of the YFP. The bicameral body also approved of the implementation of the YFP which, according to the National Agriculture and Fisheries Council (NAFC), the implementing body, has a P50 million funding for 2009.

Under the draft guidelines of the scholarship program, any State University or College and education and training institutions managed by the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) offering degree, diploma and certificate courses in agriculture, fishery and forestry courses and other agriculture related courses can participate in the program. Senator Edgardo Angara pointed out that TESDA-supervised schools should likewise be allowed to participate. He also emphasized that other disciplines related to the production of skills needed for non-farm and off-farm activities in agriculture and fishery areas should also be included. For instance, automotive repair and welding are skills needed in agriculture and fishery areas because farm households have to maintain their tractors and vehicles needed to market their products.

The areas of specialization include Bachelor of Science in Agriculture; Fisheries; Forestry; Agricultural Chemistry; Food Technology; Agricultural Economics; Agribusiness Management; Agricultural Engineering; Doctor of Veterinary Medicine; diploma and certificate courses in agriculture, fishery and forestry; and other agriculture related courses.

Eligibility requirements are as follows: the student must be a Filipino citizen; incoming college, post secondary and returning students; he/she must not have any failing grades; he/she intends to enroll at any SUCs and other TESDA-managed post secondary education and training institutions; he/she must be in need of financial assistance; he/she must be physically and mentally fit to undergo education; he/she must be of good moral character; and he/she must not be a recipient of any government scholarship grant of similar nature.

"We have to shore up the diminishing enrollment in agriculture and fisheries courses in higher education institutions and replace our aging farmers with the youth who have new mindsets," Loren said.

She asked Filipino parents and their children to consider careers in agriculture because the Philippines , she said, has hectares upon hectares of arable but idle lands waiting to be tilled.

Loren said that a career in agriculture and fisheries for the Filipino youth can modernize the sector and increase output, thereby ensuring the food security of the country.