Article by:
Ma. Cristina Arayata
MANILA – Scholars of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) may now opt to receive their allowances via e-wallet GCash, as the agency renewed its partnership with operator Mynt's subsidiary, G-Xchange, Inc. (GXI).
At a program held at TESDA Women's Center in Bicutan, Taguig City on Wednesday, TESDA Secretary Isidro Lapeña said among the challenges they have encountered was the slow disbursement of the scholars' allowances.
"We studied it and found that GCash is the solution. Allowances could be automatically transferred to the scholars' (GCash) account, same as with how our salaries are transferred to our Land Bank account. A lot of time and effort could be saved," he said.
The pilot disbursement via GCash was done in 2021 for scholars in the National Capital Region (NCR), and Regions 4-A, 7, and 11.
Data from TESDA bared that 210 scholars from the four regions received their allowances via GCash from March to December 2021. With the nationwide rollout, TESDA is targeting 379,003 scholars or enrollees in 2022.
"The pilot study in the four regions was successful. We expect that as we launch this (nationwide rollout) today, most of you will choose to use GCash. We know that this can't be 100 percent (of the scholars) since there are those in far-flung areas and without internet access," Lapeña said, clarifying this is not mandatory and scholars may still choose other modes of payment for their allowances.
The TESDA chief said he knew that the scholars' PHP160 per day allowance is important, and noted his desire to uplift the lives of people through training.
Meanwhile, GXI assistant vice president Cathlyn Pavia thanked TESDA for choosing GCash as its fintech partner.
Pavia noted that cash distribution was critical during the pandemic, and GCash has been a way for the safe, fast and easy disbursement of scholars' allowances.
"We are already expanding (the rollout) nationwide. Apart from safe disbursement, scholars can also use (the GCash app) for savings, investments, insurance, loans." Pavia said, adding that GCash is continuously innovating to provide better services.
There are 55 million registered GCash users to date. (PNA)
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