As promised by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), secondary senior students who have qualified for the college scholarship exam may now also access the online reviewer in preparation for their entrance examination on September 22, 2013. The scholarship program is under the Science Education Institute (SEI) of the DOST.
In her interviews, Dr. Rowena Cristina L. Guevara, Executive Director of the Philippine Council for Industry, Energy and Emerging Technology Research and Development of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST-PCIEERD) said the online reviewers for both PSHS scholarship and SEI college scholarship will help applicants familiarize with the examination and make the scholarship even more accessible. More scholars mean more students taking up courses in science and engineering. The college scholarship reviewer is ready and may be accessed at www.dostseireviewer.org. Like the PSHS reviewer, this is internet-based and is accessible to any interested party, most especially to those who wish to simulate the examination, or those cannot afford to enrol in private review centers or have no access at all to such reviewers.
The DOST continuously encourages students to pursue science and engineering courses through several means, two of which are the (1) Philippine Science High School (PSHS) system for a science-oriented curriculum in the secondary level and (2) DOST Science Education Institute (SEI) scholarships for the undergraduate students pursuing science and engineering courses. Both PSHS and SEI provide scholarship benefits to successful examinees, allowing them to pursue their studies, with strong encouragement to follow the S&T track.
There is high demand for these scholarships and this has even resulted in external parties offering review classes. Some schools also offer their students their own review classes to increase their passing rate in the examination. These review classes may provide advantages to the examinees in terms of familiarization with the examination itself (type of questions, format of examination, time restrictions, topics covered, etc.). Assuming all other things being equal, the examinee who has undergone practice tests, either via formal or informal review classes, stands a greater chance of doing better in the examinations versus the examinee who has not undergone any practice test.
The Undergraduate Scholarship Programs of DOST-SEI are open yearly to talented and deserving students who wish to pursue 4- or 5- year courses in priority science and technology fields. High school graduates who have not undertaken any college units may also apply. This is in compliance with Republic Act or RA 7687 Scholarships and the Merit Scholarships which both aim to produce and develop high quality human resources for the Science and Technology (S&T) and Research Development (R&D) efforts in the country and attain national R&D priority thrusts.
According to DOST-SEI, there are 3,500 scholarship slots for both applied and basic sciences which can be taken up by successful examinees in selected universities and colleges all over the Philippines. About 20,000 secondary senior students applied for the 2014 undergraduate scholarships. The list of courses in applied and basic sciences and the partner schools can be found at www.science-scholarships.ph
The DOST-SEI online reviewer was developed by a team of software program developers led by Dr. Susan P. Festin, a Professor of Computer Science in UP Diliman. The questions were developed by a team of test authors led by Dr. Milagros D. Ibe, Dr. Josette T. Biyo and Rosemarie Villena-Diaz, managed by DOST-SEI team led by its Director, Dr. Filma G. Brawner.
The DOST-PCIEERD is the monitoring agency for the development of the software programs under its S&T human resource program under the purview of the Human Resources and Institution Development Division. (Ma. Elena A. Talingdan, DOST-PCIEERD)
