He said SHEFA recipients should not maintain the required 2.5 Grade Point Average just to get the incentives.
“I encourage them to excel in their studies because that’s what they are supposed to do. However, if the policy is changed, it’s not because they don’t recognize the students’ effort but it’s due to lack of funding sources,” he told Variety.
SHEFA vice chairwoman Josephine Sablan said the board should revisit the incentive program.
“Why are we giving incentives to students who have not even started in college?” she said, referring to high school graduates who avail of the SHEFA program by having a passing GPA.
Today, the SHEFA board will meet to discuss the incentive awards.
SHEFA chairman Jose C. Mafnas said the number of renewed poker machine licenses — the scholarship program’s funding source — continues to decline every month.
In July, there were 44 up for renewal but only 34 were renewed, he said, adding that “not a lot of people are playing poker.”
Early this year, SHEFA adopted an across-the-board budget reduction for all its programs.
