President Benigno S. Aquino III has granted a P3-million assistance to the scholarship program of the Congressional Spouses Foundation Inc. (CSFI), Executive Secretary Paquito N. Ochoa Jr. announced on Wednesday.

The monetary support, Ochoa said, will be taken from the Presidential Social Fund and is hoped to boost CSFI’s scholarship program which complements government initiatives to make education more accessible to the youth.

According to Ochoa, the government is determined to implement reforms and improve the country’s educational system, as well as provide the less-privileged with the means to send their children to school. He also cited the support of Congress to the Aquino administration in realizing its goals to empower Filipinos, especially the youth, through better quality of education.

“In the President’s first two years in office, the budget for education has received substantial increases, increases that will allow us to address teacher and classroom shortages,” Ochoa said.

The additional funds, he said, will be used to hire 13,000 more teachers; construct, repair or rehabilitate 45,231 classrooms; and purchase more than 2.53 million school desks and chairs.

“To complement these budget increases, our conditional cash transfer program will focus on monitoring household-beneficiaries to ensure attendance of their children in day care and kindergarten for those ages 3 to 5, and in primary and secondary schools for those ages 6 to 14,” he added.

Ochoa also underscored the importance of education to help the youth achieve their dreams and as a crucial component to push the nation towards progress and development.

Initially, the CSFI has awarded scholarships to 100 high school graduates nationwide.