FAQ about the “Off the Streets-Off to School” Scholarship Program

​What is the “Off the Streets-Off to School” Scholarship Program?

In 1986, PIA established a rehabilitation center for child prostitutes, aged 7 to 14, at the Caritas Manila compound.  As a preventive measure, PIA started a scholarship fund with the help of the nuns at Caritas Manila to send street children to school, to take them away from the streets where they were being recruited by pimps, and to place them in schools where they belong.  Since then, thousands of children have gone through the program.  Many of them have graduated college and gotten jobs, and are now able to help support their families.

How much is it to send a child to school in the “Off the Streets-Off to School” Scholarship Program?

​It only costs $150 per year per child or 40 cents a day.  The money takes care of tuition fees, books, supplies, field trip costs, uniforms, shoes, allowances for meals and transportation.

Every year, at the end of the school year, PIA will ask if you would like to renew your sponsorship for the same child.  If you do not renew, the child will be given to another sponsor.

How are the children chosen?

What can I expect as a sponsor?

Can I keep the same child every year?