71 OUT OF 123 PASSED GEM SCREENING

ALMOST HALF of 123 Applicants eliminated in the initial screening of the GEM Mining Scholarship yesterday. In a report from the USAID, coordinator Cesar Umali Jr. says at least 52 from the long list of applicants submitted by the Cali Foundation in Marawi have failed to qualify the richly-funded educational package offered for engineering students in Muslim Mindanao. The eliminated applicants have no engineering background.

Umali explained that it would be difficult for non-engineering students or graduates to shift to mining engineering because of the differences in academic requirements. A fact sheet of the program indicates that candidates will be students in various engineering courses, who wish to shift to mining engineering.

A scholar for BS Mining Engineering will receive financial grant for tuition fees, living allowance, dormitory or housing allowance, transportation between residence and school, supplies and materials, laboratory fees, miscellaneous fees, and to some extent, air travel from hometown to the school they are enrolled. Applicants can even enjoy free travel grant for the admission test in Manila, Baguio or Cebu, prior to their scholarship.