DAMMAM/JEDDAH, 11 April 2006 — A total of 43 Filipino students in the Kingdom passed the University of the Philippines College Admission Test (UPCAT) for the coming school year, which will start in June.
In the UPCAT lists of passers obtained from the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh and Philippine Consulate in Jeddah, the total number of qualifiers showed an increase of 10 percent from 39 passers last year.
Records from the embassy also showed an increasing trend in the number of passers from the Kingdom over the last six years. From only 16 passers in 2001, the number rose to 25 in 2002, 34 in 2003, 37 in 2004, and 39 in 2005.
Of the 43 qualifiers this year, 18 are from Jeddah, 17 from Riyadh and eight from Alkhobar and Dammam combined.
Al Hekma International School (AHIS), which had only one passer last year, holds this yearit’s distinction with the most number of UPCAT passers, registering eight passers. They were Faysaleyyah Abdullah, Cyrille Cruz, Ramon Danting Jr., Maxine Hipos, Arvin Mendoza, Chinnie Onglatco, Mohammad Ortega, Roanna Salonga.
Gems International School (GIS), a sister of AHIS, had six: Rochelle Abragante, Ella Beatriz Bautista, Joseph Bunao, Kristine Marzo, Efren Rodriguez, and Mary Soriano.
Most of the GIS students came from the International Philippine School in Jeddah (IPSJ), the oldest Philippine overseas school, founded by the embassy in 1982.
Once the biggest in terms of student population with an average of 1,200 each school year, the IPSJ lost almost half of its students and teachers in the past four years amid a series of violent takeovers by groups of parents and teachers fighting for control of the community school.
This year, the IPSJ had only four passers, namely: Albert Badiong, Jeremy San Diego, Yasmin Mangotara, and Alyanna Nengasca.
The other passers from Riyadh were:
• Palm Crest International School (PCIS): Jan Sergio Arato, Kevin Carlo Gamba, Kristine Marie Liberato, Ariel Joseph Zulueta, and Neil Angelo Sael;
• Second Philippine International School (SPIS): Arthur Galapon Jr., Ronald Ryan Marasigan, Mitchellina Rafael, and Nikki Pauline Toledo;
• International Philippine School in Riyadh (IPSR): Roman Franco Rafael and Jameela Velasco;
• Nour Al-Maareef International School (NIS): Kirstin Leigh Lopez and Jonathan Velasquez; and
• Millenium International School (MIS): Dave Gabriel Poblete.
Riyadh International School (RIS) had three passers — Josefa Jovita Cabang, Arthur Echaluce and Lina Mohamud Yusuf — but they have yet to submit pending documents.
In the Eastern Region, the students who hurdled the exam were:
• International Philippine School in Alkhobar (IPSA): Jelorie Gallego, Joshua Rey Lumitao and Rinovic Anacleto Masa.
• Philippine School in Dammam (PSD): Judith Paulino, Khamille Minneth Pelayo and Cher Celeste Garcia.
Ma. Eleanor Bayaban and Janine Karla Mallari of Al-Andalus International School in Alkhobar (AAIS) also passed but they have yet to complete the paper requirements.
Consul Germinia Aguilar-Usudan, second secretary at the embassy, said the steady increase in the number of UPCAT passers in the Kingdom could be an indicator of the improving quality of schools teaching the Philippine curriculum.
“I am very proud of the excellent performance of our Filipino students in the Kingdom. We do hope that we will have more successful students next school year,” she said.
She explained that the failure to qualify in the UPCAT does not necessarily mean a student failed the examinations. UP maintains a tight quota system of each course.
Some students also opt to take the entrance examinations offered by other top Philippine schools
As in the past, students who do not qualify for the campuses in Metro Manila may still qualify with other campuses particularly in the Visayas and Mindanao, which have a lower university predicted grade (UPG) cut-off.
UP regularly conducts examinations in the Kingdom to give the children of OFWs a chance to study in the Philippines’ premier university.
The effort spares parents from having to spend too much money and the hassle of sending their children to the Philippines only to take the entrance test.
Hundreds of thousands of high school students throughout the Philippines aspire to study at UP for excellence and prestige. Their expenses are subsidized by the Philippines government.