Tesda chief exposes grant of scholarships to ‘ghost’ students and vocational schools By Angie M. Rosales 08/25/2011

Tesda chief exposes grant of scholarships to ‘ghost’ students and vocational schools

By Angie M. Rosales 08/25/2011

After unearthing recently the distribution of P2.4 billion worth of scholarships by former Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda) officials sans any appropriations in the budget, another discovery was made showing more than half of them were allegedly granted to “ghost” students and vocational schools.

The Senate finance committee was told only P880 million out of the P2.4 billion of Tesda’s scholarship program was “implemented.”

“And from the audit report conducted by our team, about 70 technical vocational institutions were nowhere to be found, although 35 of them were claiming and asking us to pay them,” Tesda Secretary Emmanuel Joel Villanueva told committee chairman Sen. Franklin Drilon during the agency’s budget hearing.

“So are you saying that beyond the P800 million, these are fake claims?” the senator asked..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/metro/20110825met4.html