CNMI at a disadvantage—Sablan

Kimberly Vitug, 18, will be the first in her family to enter college, which could cost some $32,000 to $38,000, at a time when her father recently lost his job as a maintenance staffer at Coral Ocean Point and her mother is growing orchids for sale to help make ends meet.

“I’m the first in my family to go to college. I am pressured because my parents have high expectations of me but I appreciate their support and I hope to live up to their expectations,” Vitug told Saipan Tribune.

Vitug, among the top 10 graduates of Marianas High School this year, was one of five students from public and private high schools to receive $2,000 each in scholarship from the Saipan Chamber of Commerce yesterday.

The other Chamber scholars were Amber Robets of Saipan International School, Angeline Sahagun also of MHS, Jessica Lee of Marianas Baptist Academy, and Elloise Lotoc of Kagman High School.

Vitug’s family is just one of the many families in the CNMI that are struggling financially just to be able to provide a good education for their children.

Dr. Rita Sablan, commissioner of the Public School System, said it best when she told members and guests of the Saipan Chamber of Commerce that “the CNMI is particularly at a disadvantage” as the average income of families here range from $18,000 to $30,000 while two-year to four-year college education costs between $15,000 and $42,000.

“Needless to say, with these salaries, it is impossible to support a college student plus live in the Commonwealth with the high cost of living such as the infamous utility rates, rising cost of fuel, and continued rising cost of commodities,” said Sablan, one of two guest speakers at the Chamber’s general membership meeting at Saipan World Resort in Susupe yesterday.

The minimum wage in the CNMI is $5.05 an hour, barely enough to buy a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline.

Sablan acknowledged those like the Chamber for “reaching out to our students by offering them a college career seminar and the scholarship program” to help ease the burden on families.

She said the partnership that the Chamber has established years ago by offering a scholarship program for those from PSS and private schools “is a true reflection of your commitment to the children of the Commonwealth.”

“We promise to continue our partnership by providing quality education and ensuring the success of our children so that when they complete their postsecondary education, they will return back and contribute to our island economy,” she added.

Douglas Brennan, Chamber president, acknowledged the efforts of the members of the Chamber’s Education Committee: Kanae Quinn, Jim Arenovski, and Vince Seman.

“There are so many bright young men and women out there to choose from, it is incredibly hard to narrow the field down to the final group,” he said.

This year’s Chamber scholars—Roberts, Sahagun, Lee, Lotoc, and Vitug—thanked the Chamber for granting them scholarship, their schools and teachers and their families for helping them reach their goals.

“This money will go a long way…No matter what I do, I’ll come back to Saipan,” Roberts said.

‘Many will go to college’

The PSS commissioner, in her remarks before the Chamber, said that PSS is graduating some 550 students from the Class of 2012.

Of this number, Sablan said, their student exit survey indicates a high percentage of students going off to college—about 60 percent.

Sablan said at least 30 percent will join the U.S. Armed Forces, and a mere 10 percent have other options such as employment or undecided.

Sablan also reached out to Chamber members and guests to partner with PSS in the Service Learning and Student Mentoring programs.

Geri Willis of the CNMI National Apprenticeship Program, also a guest speaker at the Chamber meeting, talked about the more than a hundred jobs available in the private and public sectors on Saipan under the apprenticeship programs approved by the U.S. Department of Labor.