Zero Dropout Program: Turning dreams into a reality

“My dream is to become one of the teachers in our community to help the little children achieve their dreams, too, by getting good education.”

These are the words that came out from Manilyn Namoc when asked about her dream profession. Manilyn is now on her 6th grade at Cansibao Elementary School. Her mother is selling “kakanin” while his father is a foreman.

The family income of the Namoc’s may seem to imperil Manilyn’s childhood dream but this does not mean it won’t happen anymore according to Evelyn, the mother of Manilyn.

“Manilyn is such a talented and gifted child. She loves Mathematics and chess is her favorite mind games. As a mother, I should not take this for granted. Thanks to CARD, Inc. for the education loan program they have provided us,” shared Evelyn.

Evelyn is one of the beneficiaries of the Zero Dropout Program offered by the four financial institutions of CARD Mutually Reinforcing Institutions (CARD MRI) including CARD, Inc. The program, which was launched in 2011, aims to provide education loan assistance to families with children in elementary to continuously send their children to school and eventually have better lives in the future.

Over the years, the elementary student-beneficiaries have already graduated to high school. Thus, the program extended its support to high school and senior high school students, following the same advocacy of zeroing the school dropouts.

The Zero Dropout Program was founded by the late Mr. Washington SyCip, founder of SyCip Gorres Velayo & Company (SGV & Co.) and the WS Family Foundation, together with his friends abroad in the Charles and Agnes Kazarian Eternal (CAKE) Foundation and CARD MRI. The education loan program was patterned to the regular microfinance program of CARD MRI but of smaller interest rate.

The program, according to CARD MRI Managing Director Flordeliza L. Sarmiento, was set to have a lower interest rate among the many loan products of CARD MRI because the goal is to provide financial assistance for schooling. “Education is a long-term investment. Hence, we need to adjust our process. Besides, the goal is to create future graduates who will be economic movers,” added Sarmiento.

The loanable amount for elementary education is ranging from P1,000-P3,000 while high school & senior high school can avail up to P10,000. All these are made accessible to support all school expenses of the children.

According to Mr. SyCip, one cannot expect someone to become smart when he or she is hungry or cannot afford to go to school.

“This is about privilege. So when no one is capable of achieving so, CARD MRI will give it to them,” shared Sarmiento.

As of June 30, 2018, the program has provided financial assistance to 642,207 microfinance clients with 800,954 children in elementary education and some high school students with total loan disbursement of P3.82 billion and repayment rate of 99.51%

This month of October marks the first death anniversary of Mr. SyCip. After retiring in 1996, he continued to be active in business and civic efforts including public education, microfinance, microfinance and entrepreneurship, and public health.

“Mr. SyCip has been a dear mentor of CARD MRI. His life and works are inspiration to all of us,” shared Dr. Jaime Aristotle B. Alip, founder and chairman emeritus of CARD MRI.

Dr. Alip assured that CARD MRI will continue to reinforce the advocacy pioneered by Mr. SyCip. “The Zero Dropout Program will reach more children nationwide because there is no reason for these children to stop going to school,” Dr. Alip added.Based on the 2017 Annual Poverty Indicators Survey (APIS) conducted by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), about nine percent of the estimated 39.2 million Filipinos aged 6 to 24 years old were out-of-school children and youth (OSCY).

OSCY, according to PSA, “refers to family members 6 to 14 years old who are not attending formal school; and family members 15 to 24 years old who are currently out of school, not gainfully employed, and have not finished college or post-secondary course.”

“There are still more work to be done. We need to ensure that every family should have a graduate in college,” emphasized Dr. Alip, adding that CARD MRI launched in 2016 the One Family, One Graduate program.

The program is an effort of CARD MRI to ensure one college graduate for every family it serves, leading to an enhanced economic situation for the whole family.

When Manilyn finishes Senior High School, Evelyn may avail a college education loan. If given the chance, Manilyn may be granted a scholarship program for college education. This scholarship program provides quarterly allowances to qualified and deserving college students.

To avail the scholarship program, the microfinance client should be more than three years member already of CARD with 100% repayment rate and at least 90% attendance during center meetings. The student-beneficiary should also get a high score during the qualifying exam.

Evelyn is forever thankful for the brighter future assured by CARD to her family. “As long as we are here, we will support CARD MRI. It is my hope that more families like me will benefit the many programs of CARD MRI for poverty eradication,” added Evelyn.

“Everyone has the ability to make his own future. Everyone can have the key to open the doors to a better tomorrow. The key is education. Poverty must not be a barrier in achieving one’s dreams,” Dr. Alip concluded.

CARD MRI is a group of 21 development-oriented institutions with a common goal of eradicating poverty and improving the quality of lives of the socio-economically challenged women and families towards nation building.