Access, Curriculum, and Employability (ACE) Scholarship Program
Through the Access, Curriculum, and Employability (ACE) Scholarship Program, Jollibee Group Foundation (JGF) has partnered with technical-vocational skills training institutions to provide indigent youth with the opportunity to stay in school and eventually help their families break out of extreme poverty.
More than a scholarship program, ACE is a collaboration with JGF’s partner institutions for curriculum enhancement to ensure that program graduates are not only technically trained but are also empowered with life skills.
2,754
Scholars
since 2005
188
Agri-entrepreneur Scholars
in SY 2022 to 2023
144
QSRO Scholars
since 2018
Quick Service Restaurant Operations
In 2018, JGF broke new ground with its partnership with Anihan Technical School in Calamba, Laguna, to offer Quick Service Restaurant Operations (QSRO). The new curriculum fills the gap for professionalized personnel training for the fast-growing food service industry.
Under the QSRO track, scholars can gain the following certifications under the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority: Bread and Pastry Production National Certificate (NC) II, Cookery NC II, and Food and Beverage Services NC II. They will also undergo on-the-job training in a food establishment.
Agro-entrepreneurship NC-II Course
To continue encouraging the youth to be engaged and employed in the agriculture sector, JGF partners with community and learning institutions to provide agricultural technical-vocational scholarships to young farmers.
Since 2005, the Foundation has implemented the Access, Curriculum, and Employability (ACE) Scholarship Program to empower young underprivileged Filipinos. In recent years, JGF has strengthened the curriculum aspect by establishing Agro-Enterprise Resource Centers (AERCs) to support its initiatives for agriculture.
Don Bosco-Legazpi in partnership with the JGF has been offering a Scholarship Program to deserving youths of the Bicol Region. This effort was started in 2016 for 25 young people. Since then, the scholarship program has grown and was able to accommodate more students in the succeeding years. In 2021, JGF beefed up this initiative by launching one of the country’s first agro-enterprise National Certificate II technical-vocational course. This was co-developed with Don Bosco and accredited by the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority. To date, there are five (5) AERCs located in:
- Don Bosco Mati (Davao Oriental)
- Sacred Heart Savings Cooperative (Ilocos Sur)
- Lamac Multi-Purpose Cooperative (Cebu)
- Don Bosco Agro-Mechanical Technology Center Legazpi (Albay)
- Don Bosco San Jose (Nueva Ecija)
Don Bosco, a leading technical and vocational education and training (TVET) institution in the Philippines, reported that 86% of its graduates from 2019 to 2022, across all courses in all its centers, are employed and able to support their families and send their siblings to school. Others have either set up their own businesses or continued with further schooling.
This is a small but sure step in addressing poverty in the Philippines, where poverty incidence remains highest among fisherfolk (30.6%), farmers (30%), children (26.4%) and individuals residing in rural areas (25.7%), according to the Philippine Statistics Authority’s 2021 report on poverty incidence among the basic sectors.