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From the Phil. Daily Inquirer |
Taking a gamble on poor students, UP shows winners’ harvest
By DJ Yap
Inquirer
Last updated 05:16am (Mla time) 12/17/2006
Published on page A22 of the December 17, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer
THERE were 450 of them: wide-eyed lads and lasses from the barrios with little money in their pockets and virtually no prospects for the future.
That is, until the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City took a gamble on them and gave them free access to top-caliber education through the Experimental Democratization Scholarship (XDS) Program.
Today, three decades later, many of them are stars in their own success stories—as professors, lawyers, engineers, doctors, architects and businessmen.
Living proof
In the light of a controversial proposal to raise UP's tuition threefold, many graduates of the XDS program are living proof that it takes only a little generosity to save poor but smart students from a life of poverty.
Victor Isidro, the son of a low-salaried postman and a housewife, is the youngest in a brood of nine.
He became one of the first beneficiaries of XDS, which the university implemented from 1977 to 1981 to help correct an imbalance in student enrollment that favored the more affluent.
The university shouldered the full cost of Isidro’s studies in geodetic engineering, including tuition, board and lodging at university dormitories, books, transportation, and learning assistance materials.
Back then, the gap between rich and poor students at UP was particularly marked, recalled Isidro.
"We were ‘promdi’ and everybody knew it, from our barong and sandals to the six-inch dictionaries we all lugged around because we thought we were required to, since UP gave these to us," he said.
Despite sarcastic remarks thrown their way, Isidro and his fellow XDS were undaunted. They attended classes with pride in being part of the country’s premier state university.
In a sense, the "promdi" label brought the XDS grantees closer, he said. "We banded together and went to classes together. Our bonding was special because some of us felt we were ostracized."
The special bond was revived recently when some grantees formed an Internet group seeking to reconnect all former XDS students.
In less than a year, more than a hundred had joined the e-group, through which they updated each other on their lives since leaving Diliman.
Success stories
The information they got gave them new reason to feel proud. The group, in a press account, gave a sampling of XDS success stories:
"An accountancy graduate is now the senior vice president of the finance department of Nestle Philippines, while an economics alumna is director for economic affairs at the Australian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Canberra.
"An industrial engineering (IE) alumna is now a manager of Pfizer in New York, while another IE alumnus is now employed in the United Nations System as coordinator (based on) his investment banking experience in the Philippines and overseas.
"An XDS alumnus joined recently the United States Agency for International Development after years of management experience in the pharmaceuticals industry. The Asian Development Bank also has an XDS alumnus in its roster.
Today, members of XDS will meet again after almost 30 years for the "Gabi ng Parangal at Pasasalamat" to honor their mentors. The event will be held 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. at the Bahay ng Alumni in UP Diliman.
"We do not expect that all the 450 or so grantees have inspirational stories to tell," members of the e-group said in a statement.
Multiplier effects
"However, based on the stories in the e-group, it appears that the university had won its bet," they added. "The experimental program benefited not just 450 individuals. Truly, the benefits had multiplier effects in that many of us were able to send siblings and other relatives to college."
"Instead of (just) raising families (from below) the poverty line, we, and our siblings, are now raising families that have better chances in the future," they said.
As for Isidro, he is now married and the father of a teenage girl. After graduation, he pursued a Master's degree in public management at the Development Academy of the Philippines.
He now teaches at the graduate school of the National College of Business and Arts and the University of Makati.
What might have been
Isidro shudders when he thinks what his life would have been like were it not for the opportunity the university gave him.
"In our talks, some of us were saying we might be on the streets begging, or even mugging people, if not for XDS. Personally, I think I would have survived, but life would have been harder," he said.
Isidro said he and his fellow XDS alumni intend to offer a scholarship for an indigent student, especially someone from the province.
"We're in the process of raising funds, but we hope to sponsor at least one student next school year," he said. It was their small way of paying back what they owed UP. "Most of us feel it's about time that we gave something back to the university," Isidro said.
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