Given the importance of the internet as a learning tool and its rising cost in the Philippines, leading fiber broadband provider Converge ICT Solutions Inc. is launching an internet scholarship program for 10 underprivileged public school seniors under the brand name of its postpaid fiber plan BIDA.
“While we now serve more than 2 million customers with high speed broadband, the reality is, many more remain unserved by the benefits of technology. This includes young students, who are in danger of being left behind by their global peers as indicated in surveys such as the Programme for International Student Assessment or PISA,” said Converge President Maria Grace Y. Uy.
Furthermore, measures aimed at improving access to education are consistent with the company’s commitment to achieving Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4, Quality Education, and SDG 1, No Poverty. When it comes to corporate sponsorship, education is one of the corporation’s top priorities. At the height of the pandemic in 2021, the company signed a Memorandum of Agreement with the Department of Education to improve remote education.
The BIDA Fiber Internet Scholarship Program is open to incoming Grade 11 students attending public schools who have chosen the STEM pathway. They must also rank in the top 10% of their graduating class, among other criteria.
Converge believes that connectivity and education are the two most powerful ‘equalizing’ forces in society, providing excluded and underprivileged groups access to the same resources as privileged ones and leveling the playing field in terms of job prospects.
This scholarship comes at a time when broadband internet in the country is generally prohibitively expensive, particularly for the disadvantaged.
According to the Philippine Institute for Development Studies, among the Asean-5 countries (Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, and the Philippines), we have the most expensive monthly internet service at USD 44.93, or more than P 2,000. Furthermore, the World Bank blog states that in the
In the Philippines, the annual fee for fixed broadband accounts for 11% of gross national income, which is more than double the Asean average.
At P 888 a month, the BIDA Fiber postpaid plan is the most affordable postpaid internet option on the market today, providing 75 Mbps for six devices with no data caps.
Applicants may submit their criteria between June 25 and July 10. The scholarship will be awarded on July 30.
