PLACING the proposed City College in the hinterland barangay of Dansolihon is proof that City Hall won’t compete with private schools and state universities as far as enrollment of students is concerned, Mayor Rolando ‘Klarex’ Uy said.

“That’s why I chose to place the City College in Dansolihon so it won’t affect the private schools. Secondly, our intention is to provide education for children of poor families, and third, to prioritize agriculture since a lot of our farmers haven’t finished schooling. How will they know how to use modern methods and farming equipment?,” Mayor Uy said in Visayan during his Friday program.

Uy said this in response to reports about the concerns voiced by school officials on the City College which they viewed as affecting their enrollment. Mayor Uy’s statement came as representatives of the indigenous peoples in Dansolihon reiterated their support for establishing a school in their area during Wednesday afternoon’s meeting of the City Council education committee.

COLLEGE FOR THE POOR. Mayor Rolando ‘Klarex’ Uy says City Hall’s scholarship program will continue to service indigent youths wishing to avail of higher education in the city’s private schools. CIO photo grab

The committee meeting deliberated on the proposed City College ordinance authored by committee chairperson Councilor Suzette Magtajas-Daba.

In her message, IP representative Veronica ‘Bai Ika’ Suarez said the decision by their tribal association to donate 60 hectares of land for the City College was driven by their need for a school their children and children from neighboring barangays can study in.

“That’s why we donated the land (for this purpose). We can help the city government much with this donation and in turn, you can help us (by providing education),” Suarez told education committee members during the meeting.

Mayor Uy also said his administration is expanding its scholarship program to help poor city students finish schooling in private schools.

“Right now, we’ve provided scholarships to 9,053 indigent city youths in keeping with our administration’s pledge of 10,000 scholars (before my term ends). We will continue providing scholarships to indigent students wishing to enroll in private schools and in fact, we’ll be expanding it to include medicine and law courses in private universities and colleges,” Mayor Uy said in Visayan. (Stephen Capillas of City Information Office)