If you are an OFW and you have kids who are going to school, you may use this opportunity to apply them for the Project EASE Scholarship which is initiated by OWWA and DOLE to help the children of OFWs who were affected by COVID-19.
Also Read: What is the Tabang OFW Program by OWWA?
The EASE project has only been launched during the pandemic to give extra assistance to OFWs and their children. According to OWWA, the Educational Assistance through Scholarship (EASE) Project aims to give educational assistance to those qualified college-level dependents of OFWs who are active members of OWWA and whose employment was affected by the pandemic.
In this blog, we have shared the essential details of the EASE project in order to help OFWs and their dependents get the right information, such as who is qualified, what are the requirements, what is the program all about, and how to apply.
You may use this as your guide if you are curious about the EASE project and you have a college child who needs financial assistance during this time of the pandemic. By sharing this information with you, we hope that we help you find the right OWWA program for your dependents.
What is OWWA EASE Program?
The Educational Assistance through Scholarship in Emergencies (EASE) Program is an assistance program that is designed to help OFWs and their college dependents. This is basically financial assistance for college children of OFWs to help them continue their education despite the impact of the pandemic on their livelihood.
The EASE Program can give P10,000 every year for a maximum of 4 years to those who qualify for the program. Usually, the dependents of active members of OWWA are prioritized. So, to make sure your children qualify for the program, you have to be an active member of the agency. The active membership status should start on February 1, 2020, during the time when the pandemic hit.
The Board of Trustees of OWWA has allocated about a P400 million budget for the first year of implementation of the program. This fund is sourced from the funds of OWWA, which is most likely from the membership fees of OFWs abroad.
According to Labor Secretary Silvestre H. Belo III, “True to its mandate of providing holistic programs and services to the OFWs and their families, the OWWA board has set aside funds to support the education of college-level dependents of active OWWA member-OFWs.” He also added that “As the project title suggests, we intend to ease the impact of the pandemic on the lives of our dear OFWs.”
What are the benefits of the program?
If you are an OFW and whose employment got hit during the pandemic, then you and your kids are entitled to this program. The benefits of this program include financial assistance to your college child for 4 years. P10,000 will be distributed to scholars for a maximum of 4 years.
This is actually good especially for those who are looking for extra sources to pay for the education of their children.
Who can apply for Project EASE program?
If you are curious about who can apply for the program, here’s the list of qualification and eligibility provided by OWWA.
- An active OFW-member who can be land-based, sea-based, or from Balik Manggagawa at the time of his/her repatriation from February 1, 2020, or the start of the outbreak of COVID-19 up until the pandemic is managed by the World Health Organization (WHO) or any other competent authorities.
- The child of a married or single OFW
- The sibling of a single OFW
These are the only qualifications provided by OWWA. Take note that the agency also names those who are not covered by this project. The following are not covered.
- Undocumented workers
- Inactive OWWA members
- Those who have existing scholarship grants under EDSP, ODSP, CMWSP, and ELAP-Education
If you are not an active member of OWWA or you are not a member at all, you and your dependents can’t qualify for the said program. Also, if your child is already covered by other scholarship programs, you can’t apply for this one anymore. The EASE program is a chance for those who haven’t availed of the scholarship program of OWWA yet.
What are the Project EASE requirements?
To apply for the EASE project, you need the following requirements:
- Duly accomplished application form. You can download the form here: https://ease.owwa.gov.ph
- Valid passport
- Official receipt of OWWA membership. This will be used for validation.
- Flight ticket of the boarding pass or arrival sticker attached to the passport as evidence of your return to the country from February 1, 2020.
- Certificate of grades of the dependent
- Proof of relationship of the OFW and the dependent. It can be the birth certificate of the child if the OFW is single or married, or CENOMAR of the OFW, and the birth certificate of the sibling of OFW if the OFW is single.
The certificate of grades should be certified by the school where the child or sibling last attended. The dependent should have passing marks as well.
How to apply for Project EASE?
Step 1: Prepare the requirements. This is the first thing that you have to do. Make sure you have all the requirements before you apply.
Step 2: Fill out and submit the application form online.
The next step is to submit the application form online by going to ease.owwa.gov.ph.
Step 3: Submit the requirements via OWWA RWO e-mail. You may scan the requirements listed above so you can submit them online. Once you submit the requirements, you will receive a serial number or a tracking number so you can monitor the status of your application.
Note: In case you submit incomplete requirements, you will be notified via email or SMS regarding the lacking or invalidated requirements. In case there’s a lacking requirement, you may follow the instruction of OWWA regarding the resubmission of the documents.
If you and your dependent got approved, you will receive a downloadable and printable Scholarship agreement. You will need to sign the agreement and have it notarized before you send it back to the concerned RWO.
Project EASE Application Form
Please check the application form for the Project EASE scholarship by going to the website online. Below is a screenshot of the form where you need to fill out your details:
OWWA EASE Status Inquiry
In case you would like to know the status of your EASE application, please follow the steps
- Visit the EASE status inquiry tracker on this link – https://easetracker.owwa.gov.ph/
- Enter your Last Name, First Name, Middle Name, and Email Address. Click Search
- The status will appear if it is ‘pending’, ‘approved’, or ‘denied’ application
Below is a photo screenshot of the online tracker to check the status of application:
Video: Project EASE Scholarship by OWWA
If you want to learn more details about Project EASE, please be guided in this video who shared more details. Here’s a useful video about EASE Project:
What to Expect from OWWA Project EASE
Please check out this infographics guide below to learn more information about what you can expect from the OWWA Project EASE scholarship assistance for OFWs
