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The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Field Office VII encourages student beneficiaries under the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) to avail of various government tertiary education support programs that assist them with their educational expenses.

A 4Ps Municipal Link serves a written notice or letter to a Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) household in Dumanjug, Cebu.

The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) offers these programs to qualified and eligible poor households, including 4Ps student beneficiaries, through the Unified Student Financial Assistance System for Tertiary Education (UniFAST), an attached agency of CHED that unifies and harmonizes government-funded student financial assistance programs (StuFAPs).

DSWD-7 Regional Director Shalaine Marie Lucero said that 4Ps student-beneficiaries may inquire to CHED for various educational assistance, including free higher education, free technical-vocational education and training, the Tertiary Education Subsidy (TES), the Tulong Dunong Program (TDP), and other specialized forms of StuFAPs for tertiary education.

“As we all know in 4Ps, beneficiaries graduate from the program once their children graduate from senior high school or turn 19, whichever comes first, and so these programs from CHED can help ease the financial burden of the family, especially for those students who aspire to pursue higher education,” added Director Lucero.

DSWD-7 sent written notices through the 4Ps City and Municipal Links (C/MLs) in the area to inform the 4Ps partner beneficiaries of the various educational assistance offered by UniFAST, indicating the qualifications and benefits of each program.

The 4Ps beneficiaries may avail of these programs at any state universities and colleges (SUCs) and CHED-recognized local universities and colleges (LUCs), according to Republic Act 10931, which exempts students from paying tuition and other school fees. In Central Visayas, the SUCs are the following: Bohol Island State University (BISU), Cebu Normal University (CNU), Cebu Technological University (CTU), Negros Oriental State University (NORSU), and Siquijor State College (SSC).

For more information about the various forms of educational assistance, 4Ps student beneficiaries may contact CHED via email at chedro7@ched.gov.ph or unifastro7@ched.gov.ph, on the Facebook page CHED RO 7 or by phone at (032) 414-9194. ###

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