DAMMAM, 8 October – A total of 132 Filipino students in the Kingdom will take the University of the Philippines College Admission Test (UPCAT) for the school year, which will start in June 2003.
Vice Consul Germinia Aguilar-Usudan told Arab News that the examinations will be held at the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh on Oct. 11 for examinees coming from Riyadh, Alkhobar and Dammam. Students in Jeddah will have their own examination on Oct. 15 at the International Philippine School in Jeddah (IPSJ).
Of the total, 60 senior students are from Riyadh, 47 are from Alkhobar and Dammam, and 25 from Jeddah.
The International Philippine School in Riyadh (IPSR) and Millenium International School (MIS) each have 19 students who will take the examinations.
The Second Philippine International School (SPIS) has 15 examinees, four are from Al-Maarefa International School (AMIS) and three from Riyadh International School.
The International Philippine School in Alkhobar (IPSA) has the highest number of UPCAT examinees this year with 38 fourth year students. The Philippine School in Dammam (PSD) will send eight students while the Philippine Community School in Alkhobar (Philcosa) has one interested applicant.
In Jeddah, only the IPSJ has signified to take the UPCAT exams, according to Usudan. The vice consul, who was also appointed by Ambassador Bahnarim Guinomla as special assistant for school affairs, said that UP examiner Esperanza Rizalina Ibañez will be arriving from Manila to conduct the examinations.
UP, the premier state university in the Philippines, has one of the toughest entrance examinations in the country, probably second only to that of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA). UP offers a wide range of degree programs.
Most of the country’s top students aspire to study at UP for excellence and prestige and their expenses are subsidized by the Philippine government.
However, because of the quota system required in each course for examinees throughout the Philippines, it is a tough challenge for thousands of students who take the exams to be admitted to the university.
