COTABATO CITY—Since its inception in 2019, a total of 1,688 college students across the Bangsamoro region has benefited from the Bangsamoro Government’s Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) scholarship program.
The provision of scholarships to qualified grantees is part of the ministry’s initiatives to help them harness their skills in science for the future of the Bangsamoro.
“Most of them are successful and graduated with honors,” MOST Minister Engr. Aida Silongan said in an interview on July 4, 2024.
“We also offer new scholarships for master’s and PhD (doctorate) degrees, or even studying abroad. We proposed this to increase the number of experts here in BARMM,” she shared.
Currently, MOST offers several scholarships, including Bangsamoro Assistance for Science Education (BASE), BASE-MERIT, Mujahideen Assistance for Science Education (MASE), and Bangsamoro Special Assistance for Science Education (BSASE).
BASE is awarded to deserving Senior High School graduates who are BARMM residents, providing an allowance of P80,000 annually or P8,000 per month. BASE-MERIT is intended for students with high aptitude in science and mathematics, offering a stipend of P200,000 annually or P20,000 per month.
MASE is for the sons and daughters of Mujahideens (Islamic combatants), while BSASE aims to support the educational pursuits of talented individuals from the Bangsamoro region.
There are 704 active scholars under BASE from the first to fourth batch; 204 under BASE-MERIT from the first and second batch, 380 under MASE; and 400 recipients under BSASE.
Minister Silongan proudly shared that 17 of these grantees have graduated with Latin honors: 10 cum laude, five magna cum laude, and two summa cum laude.
Shahida Suhod, a MASE scholarship grantee and cum laude graduate of Bachelor of Secondary Education Major in Mathematics from the University of Southern Mindanao (USM), expressed her gratitude to the ministry for the assistance she received.
“I saw that MOST was offering a scholarship exclusively for the children of Mujahideen, which is the MASE. I applied, and luckily, I was accepted,” she said.
“I communicated with MOST to return the service and went to the office as a volunteer. It was perfect timing that there was a vacant position; I was just going to volunteer, but they gave me a job,” she recalled.
When asked about her advice to fellow scholars, she emphasized, “My advice is to study well and set a goal.”
The ministry reiterates that student applicants who plan to apply for scholarships may check the MOST official social media accounts and comply with the requirements of the grant program. (Datu Norhamidin Mamasainged/BIO)
