TUGUEGARAO CITY, Cagayan – The fisheries Bureau here recorded 147 hopefuls who took the challenge to pass the National Qualifying Examination for the Fisheries Scholarship Program (FSP) offered by the Bureau as educational assistance for incoming college students who are willing to pursue fisheries course last November 12, 2022 in six designated testing centers in the Region.

Regional FSP Coordinator, Atty. Ronaldo R. Libunao and Chief of the Fisheries Production and Support Services Division in coordination with Provincial Fishery Officers facilitated the recruitment process.

Out from the 225 signed up to take the examination earlier, 147 aspiring fisheries scholars made it to the screening process conducted in the following testing centers: Provincial Fishery Office, Basco, Batanes; Cagayan State University, Aparri, Cagayan; DA-BFAR Regional Office 2, Carig Sur, Tuguegarao City, Salinungan Stand Alone Hall, San Mateo, Isabela; Nueva Vizcaya State University, Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya and Maddela Comprehensive Hall, Maddela, Qurinio respectively.

Qualified examinees will vie for the 26 slots allocated for region 02.

The FSP has three categories namely; 1) Fisherfolk Children Educational Grant (FSP-FCEG), wherein children of registered fisherfolk are prioritized; 2) Fisheries Industry Leaders Grant (FSP-FILG) for students who are top performers in their class; and 3) Indigenous Cultural Communities/Indigenous Peoples (ICCs/IPs), the new addition to the scholarship grant which is offered to students who are members of the indigenous peoples group.

For the 1st semester of the academic year 2023-2024, the FSP-beneficiaries from the three categories (20-FCEG; 3 – IP; 3-FILG) will be receiving scholarship privileges such as monthly stipend, book allowance, thesis/special problem support, OJT/Practicum support, graduation support among others.

As of this writing, BFAR 2 has produced 96 graduates, and recorded 88 on-going students as FSP student-beneficiaries.   ##