Prof. Jeena A. Amoto, a Math teacher from UP High School in Iloilo, was one of the awardees of the “CHED Merit Scholarship: My Success Story” yesterday, 18 May 2022, in a program held at Quezon City University’s Tanghalang Manuel L. Quezon (QCU’s Center for Performing Arts).
Prof. Amoto was among several national awardees and the only regional awardee who joined the video contest. The awarding ceremony was initiated as part of the 2nd National Higher Education (NHED) and 28th CHED Founding Anniversaries.
“Growing up, I have always wanted to become a teacher. However, coming from a poor family and having been raised by a single mother with three children but no stable income, I found it difficult to get an education. Putting food on the table was our family’s daily struggle and priority,” Prof. Amoto shared in her video entry. “With the belief that education is a great equalizer, I never gave up on my dream, and that dream started becoming a reality when I was able to obtain a scholarship grant from the Commission on Higher Education, which paid for my tuition and miscellaneous fees,” she added.
The security that CHED provided while Prof. Amoto was in college allowed her to focus on her studies. She finished her Bachelor of Secondary Education major in Mathematics at West Visayas State University in 2015 under a CHED Half Merit Scholarship and graduated summa cum laude.
She was also a Rotary Awardee for the Most Outstanding Graduate, one of the Ten Outstanding Students of the Philippines in Western Visayas in 2015, was part of the Circle of Five of 2015 The Outstanding Students of Iloilo, and a 2014 National Ayala Young Leader.
Prof. Amoto taught at Iloilo National High School prior to joining UPHSI in 2021.
