The Makati Business Club's Invest
in Education Program (IEP) was launched in December 1990 in
response to what MBC found was the "sorry state" of
the education sector. At that time, for every 100 pupils who
entered Grade 1, only 60 finished Grade 6, and eventually only
40 made it to High School graduation. Economic difficulties
forced these children out of school.
Source of Funding
Funds for the program initially
came from the proceeds of Christmas card sales to MBC
member companies. More recently, program funding has been
raised through the MBC-Visa card.
This affinity program is set up in such a way that one
percent of gross charges made through the card is donated
to a pool of funds managed by MBC. This pool of funds
makes contributions to poverty-alleviation projects, such
as education and housing. View
summary of grants
Scholarships
As its contribution to efforts at alleviating
the situation in the education sector, MBC's Invest in Education
Program kicked off a scholarship program for poor but deserving
students in Makati. An initial batch of five incoming Grade
IV and five incoming First Year High School students were
sponsored starting SY 1991-1992. These students were given
monthly stipend and books, school supplies, and uniform allowances.
MBC committed to support these students until high school
graduation over a four to seven year period.
Three of the five First Year High School students
completed high school as MBC scholars while another three
of the five grade school students made it all the way to high
school graduation. For the seven-year period of this scholarship
program, a total of P244,810 was spent on the students.
Teacher Training
Realizing that scholarships benefitted only
a very limited number of students, MBC shifted to an activity
that had a higher multiplier effect. Starting SY 1993-1994,
MBC sponsored Makati public school teachers to courses at
the University of the Philippines Institute of Science and
Math Education Development (UPISMED). These short courses
were designed to upgrade teachers' skills in the teaching
of Science and Math.
MBC ran this teacher training program for three
school years. A total of 240 teachers participated at the
cost of P187,835. Expenditures included course fees and meal
and transportation allowances for the teachers.
Still in the area of teacher training,
MBC partnered up with the Ateneo Center for Educational
Development (ACED) in providing graduate credits to
public school teachers who attended extensive one-semester
courses in science and math at the Ateneo de Manila
University. MBC has so far sponsored a total of 150
teachers from the Division of City Schools of Manila,
San Juan, Malabon, Navotas, and Marikina for the last
five school years. The grant for the teachers' tuition
fees totaled P662,500.
PCs for Public Schools
More recently, MBC has embarked
on a project with the Department of Trade and Industry, Department
of Education, and the business community to install personal
computers in public high schools across the country. Read
more on PCs for Public Schools.
