FirstGen students are the first in their family to pursue higher education.
Project FirstGen aims at strengthening individual and systemic capacities to increase higher education access of FirstGen students in Iloilo City. Following a roadmap comprised of three phases, Project FirstGen seeks out partnerships with local educational institutions. Explore the full Roadmap here!
Appraising
Identifying needs and challenges anchored in the social dimension of FirstGen students
Piloting
Inviting FirstGen students to reflect on their experiences and explore mentoring tools
Establishing
Developing sustainable structures by founding a local civil society organization
The Logbook
The Logbook is all about supporting FirstGen students in navigating Philippine higher education.
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Universities feel like secret clubs sometimes. As soon as you enter a campus, the language of those around you is changing, people talk about topics you can be unfamiliar with, they dress a certain way. It is an environment that evaluates your ideas, what you say or write. Universities have their own culture and if…
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The academic world can be quite a jungle to hike through, especially if you are the first in your family to pursue a degree. Have you ever felt like you needed some support during your higher education journey? The idea to start Project FirstGen Philippines did not come out of nowhere: I was a first-generation…
Hej, I’m Timo
Only later in life, I realized how much it impacted my educational and professional journey to be the first to study in my family. There was always this feeling that I actually didn’t belong in those environments. It felt like listening to a language I was not able to speak yet.
I was fortunate enough to have finished my studies in Braunschweig, Istanbul, and Uppsala after seven years of ups and downs. Afterwards I worked for years with the German Civil Peace Service and the German Development Agency partnering with university partners in the Philippines, Cambodia, and Timor-Leste.
Project FirstGen Philippines 