GENERAL SANTOS CITY — The city government will hire at least 1,200 student workers for the implementation of the Special Program for the Employment of Students (SPES) this year.
Nur Juanday, head of the Public Employment Services Office (PESO), said Wednesday that preparations are underway for the opening of the program’s application and selection process.
He said they are targeting to start the manual registration and initial processing of applications by next week.
“We are just waiting for instructions from DOLE (Department of Labor and Employment) and the city mayor’s office to proceed,” he told reporters.
Juanday said their target beneficiaries are “poor but deserving” college and high school students, out-of-school youths intending to return to school and dependents of displaced or would-be displaced workers due to business closures, work stoppages and natural calamities.
He said qualified applicants are those aged 15 to 30 years old and available to render work during the summer vacation and semestral break.
The deployment of the successful applicants will start before the May 13 local and national mid-term elections, he said.
Under the program, the beneficiaries will receive a daily pay of around PHP300 based on the prevailing minimum wage in the region.
SPES is a flagship program implemented by local government units and DOLE to assist poor but deserving students and out-of-school youths intending to pursue their education to gain employment during summer, Christmas vacation or any time of the year.
The initiative, which has a maximum annual cycle of 52 days per beneficiary, mainly caters to students in the tertiary, technical or vocational level.
DOLE provides for the 40 percent of the beneficiaries’ salaries, which is based on an area’s prevailing minimum daily wage rate, while the employing offices or establishments shoulder the remaining 60 percent.
Juanday said some of the beneficiaries will be assigned in different departments and offices of the local government that signified need for additional manpower.
He added that a significant number would be assigned in their respective barangays so they could save on transportation costs. (PNA)
