BEING the perennial laggard on the education front for decades past, the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (Barmm) would not have more of such an unsavory reputation to prevail.
With its battlecry of not leaving a Bangsamoro child behind, the current administration of the Bangsamoro Region has been breaking ground across its scattered provinces, many of them belonging to the country’s poorest areas, to lay down the solid stakes for more accessibility to education that they expect would reap a great harvest in the future.
Its officialdom is making itself loud and clear on this priority.
“You are now becoming part of the sector of the Bangsamoro people who will provide bright future of our children, of your future children to be,” Sahie A. Udjah, a member of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA), the BARMM’s interim parliament, told a throng of newly hired teachers for Sulu on Monday, January 10, 2022.
Sulu Schools Division Superintendent Kiram Irilis followed this up with a reminder: Do your duty with diligence because you are now part of the “moral governance” advocacy of the regional government.
“Sumumpa kayo ngayon [You have sworn today], that you will do the service diligently under the Republic of the Philippines, under the Bangsamoro government,” Kiram said in his speech.
New schools, teacher hiring, scholarships
IN the last two years, BARMM went on an offensive to raise school population, improve literacy and ensure that more classrooms are constructed in remote areas.
In March this year, the Ministry of Basic, Higher and Technical Education (MBHTE) turned over to its Sulu Divisions Office 26 classrooms for seven schools in different municipalities of the province. The classrooms cost P50 million in total.
The ministry also broke ground for the construction of two-story buildings with 10 classrooms for college students of Hadji Butu School of Arts and Trade (HBSAT) in Barangay Asturias, Jolo, Sulu. It has a budget of P17.625 million from the Bangsamoro Appropriations Acts (BAA) of 2020.
The following month, Education Minister Mohagher Iqbal led the turnover of 55 classrooms to 24 schools in the Schools Division of Tawi-Tawi and presented significant projects and programs of the ministry for the Bangsamoro learners on the island province. Another 22 school buildings are already nearing completion and would soon be turned over to the Tawi-Tawi Schools Division.
In July, Iqbal led the groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of seven school buildings in North Cotabato and Maguindanao for Sapakan Elementary School (with one-story building, flagpole and handwashing facility and rainwater collector), Buliok Elementary School, Datu Pinguiaman Elementary School Annex, Dagadas Elementary School, Nasapian Elementary School, Sambulawan Elementary School and Endaila Silongan Central Elementary School.
The BARMM has allotted P2.5 million budget for each school construction.
In November last year, MBHTE conducted 10 groundbreaking ceremonies for school-building projects in Marawi City and Lanao del Sur province, with a budget of P106 million.
These undertakings were complemented with the hiring of teachers.
In October last year, 203 vacant teaching plantilla items were filled in the Schools Divisions of Lanao del Sur I and II. These included 81 elementary, 37 secondary, and six Alternative Learning System (ALS) teachers, who were hired for the Division of Lanao del Sur I, while 46 elementary, 27 secondary, and 6 ALS teachers were hired for Lanao del Sur II.
Last week, 294 teachers were also hired in Sulu, 183 of them in the elementary level, 103 in the junior high school level, and eight in the ALS.
Members of the regional and division screening board of the MBHTE-Sulu have started evaluating the conduct of demonstration teaching and interview with some 1,800 licensed teachers, who were applying for jobs in the education ministry.
In September last year, four members of the Bangsamoro Parliament filed a bill granting permanent status to non-Licensure Examination for Teachers (LET) passers who have served for at least 10 years of efficient service in the region.
BTA Bill 122, also known as the “Provisional Teachers Act of 2021,” intends to recognize the provisional teachers’ contribution, expertise, and years of service in the region.
“By granting them permanent status under certain conditions, the authors believe that this would be the most just recourse to resolving the issue and ensure that they continue to contribute to the development of the Bangsamoro,” Ziaur-Rahman Adiong said in an explanatory note. Abdulraof Macacua, Eduard Guerra, and Abdullah Hashim also authored the measure.
Under the proposed bill, all non-LET passers who have served the now-defunct DepEd-Automous Region in Muslim Mindanao for at least 10 years will be given permanent status if they meet the qualifications for the post: must have rendered continuous service to the defunct ARMM at least 10 years in teaching before the effectivity of this act; and he/she must pass the qualifying exam provided by the MBHTE.
Islamic studies in the Madrasah were not left out.
The MBHTE, through its Directorate General for Madaris Education, hired 2,374 new Islamic Studies and Arabic Language (ISAL) teachers, or asatidz, for the 11 schools divisions in the Bangsamoro region.
According to Prof. Tahir Nalg, MBHTE director general for Madaris Education, the main objective was not only to hire more ISAL teachers but to have a balanced and quality education for the young learners.
“Tuturuan po natin sila na ma-improve ang Islamic studies nila, pero sinisigurado po natin iyong quality ng edukasyon,” said Nalg.
The teachers will receive a monthly salary of P16,200 until March 2022. According to Nalg, contracts are renewable every six months while they await the ministry’s special eligibility exams for permanent positions for Madaris teachers.
Overall, the BARMM granted P93-million subsidy to 64 recognized madrasahs last year.
According to MBHTE, a total of 18,630 madrasah learners from the 64 SMC Implementers benefited and received P5,000 from the subsidy.
Repainal Gampong, 48, school registrar of Ibn Siena Integrated School Foundation Inc. in Biaba, Marawi City, Lanao del Sur, received a check worth P11,185,000 from the Bangsamoro Government. He thanked the Bangsamoro Government for realizing assistance to Madaris education.
He said their institution recently recorded more than 4,000 enrollees, and from the subsidy, they will allocate 80 percent for teachers’ salary, while 20 percent will go to their school development programs.
Scholarship slots for poor but deserving students have been increased as well.
In December 2020, MBHTE granted scholarships to 799 incoming first-year college students from the central Mindanao provinces of Lanao del Sur and Maguindanao, the cities of Cotabato and Marawi, provinces of Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur, and the 63 barangays of North Cotabato.
Around 1,400 students across the BARMM were targeted to benefit from the scholarships: 799 made it from the mainland provinces and the rest, from the provincial islands of Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi.
The scholarship is effective from the first semester of academic year 2020-2021 until 2023-2024. A scholar gets P30,000 allowance per semester or P60,000 per academic year.
Iris Dinah Bacaraman, 21, a Maranao and taking up Bachelor of Science in Physics at the Mindanao State University-Main Campus in Marawi City, said she was happy she availed herself of the scholarship because she has five siblings and it would help her parents ease the burden of school expenses.
“My father is the sole breadwinner, and this fund is a big help. And since it’s pandemic and we always have online classes, we have to load up on the internet every three days,” she said, partly in Filipino.
“This AHME scholarship program is a big help to my father who is a farmer spending for my schooling. I plan to stay in a boarding house because we live far, in Sultan Mastura, Maguindanao,” said Hissam Rumaguia, 19, a Maguindanaon and taking up Bachelor of Science in Social Work at the Cotabato City State Polytechnic College.
The Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) also extended scholarships to 126 students: 73 from the province of Maguindanao, 63 barangays in North Cotabato and Cotabato City; and 53 grantees from the provinces of Lanao del Sur, Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi.
Minister Aida Silongan said the program was the first of its kind implemented in the Bangsamoro region. “This program is a response to the very low performance in science and technology innovation in the region where we are several decades behind in terms of inventions, innovations, and even numbers of science researchers compared to other regions,” Silongan admitted.
In Tawi-Tawi, the MBHTE reported that 451 scholars finished their technical and vocational courses in January last year. The scholars finished courses on organic agriculture production, organic crop production, agricultural crop production, cookery, bread and pastry production, assembly of solar nightlight and post lamp, masonry, dressmaking, electrical installation and maintenance, plumbing, shielded metal arc welding, technical drafting, security services, computer systems servicing, and housekeeping.
By April last year, the MBHTE-Technical Education and Skills Development (TESD) reported that 3,453 scholars across the Bangsamoro region completed their vocational courses for the first quarter of 2021.
“This would open more doors for our Bangsamoro learners to hone their skills and knowledge,” Iqbal said. He noted the scholars come from disadvantaged sectors.
“With a certification rate of 85.4 percent, roughly 3,142 out of 3,679 scholarship grantees who have undergone National Competency Assessment [there] are now certified competent skilled workers in their respective areas of skills training,” the MBHTE said.
The ministry would also be opening slots for another 1,400 scholarship grants for the children of former combatants.
Rationale
“GIVING scholarships or financial assistance to deserving students is one way of promoting access among the Bangsamoro constituents to higher education,” said Member of Parliament Amilbahar Mawallil, who pushed for the establishment of a scholarship and return service program.
Mawallil reiterated that improving access to higher education is one of the major challenges of the Ministry of Basic, Higher, and Technical Education.
“This challenge is compounded by the armed conflict and other peace and order-related problems in the region,” he added, noting that higher education serves as the link between basic education and the professional world.
Scholarship programs in the region, specifically the Student Financial Assistance Program, he explained, are being managed by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) Central Office and that the number of slots available in the region depends on how CHED distributes slots among the regions.
The BTA Bill 162, or the Bangsamoro Scholarship Grant Act of 2021, seeks to address the problem by establishing a Bangsamoro Scholarship and Return Service Program for deserving students who wish to pursue education and training in any state university or college in the country.
But this bill includes a provision for return service, in which the scholar will be absorbed into the Bangsamoro government after graduating from the any state university or college, and will receive the appropriate civil service rank, salary, and related benefits.
For at least a year, the scholar must serve in the Bangsamoro government, preferably in the scholar’s hometown, or in any city or municipality closest to the scholar’s hometown.
“This will not only be beneficial to the scholar but has a reciprocal benefit to the government through the gainful employment of competent professionals and public servants of the region,” Mawallil said.
Coauthors of the proposed bill are MPs Atty. Laisa Alamia, Engr. Baintan Ampatuan, Engr. Don Loong, Atty. Rasol Mitmug, Atty. Suharto Ambolodto, Rasul Ismael and Abraham Burahan.
To enhance awareness of the benefits of education, Mawallil also filed a separate bill seeking to grant recognition and incentives to Bangsamoro topnotchers in board or bar, and other national licensure examinations.
“The granting of recognition and incentives to the Bangsamoro people and other inhabitants in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region is one way of inspiring individuals to strive for greater heights of excellence,” Mawallil, the main author of the bill, said.
Top-performing Bangsamoro residents bring pride and honor, and serve as role models for the youth, he said.
Medical school
TO bring the education front to greater heights, MP Susana Anayatin authored Parliament Bill 150 that establishes a medical school in the region “under the capacity and capability required by the licensing standards and regulation of the Commission on Higher and Technical Education of the Philippines and the Association of Philippine Medical Colleges.”
In July last year, Health Minister Dr. Bashary Latiph and University of Southern Mindanao (USM) President Francisco Gil Garcia signed a memorandum of agreement in Kabacan, North Cotabato, to formally start the Bangsamoro Medical Scholarship Program in the university.
Bangsamoro graduates of pre-medical courses may avail themselves of free medical schooling which the Ministry of Health would soon offer.
“This memorandum of agreement is the first step toward the realization of more health-care professionals, especially doctors, for Barmm and Region 12,” Latiph said.
Thirty students would be sent as scholars to USM, 15 to the Western Mindanao State University in Zamboanga City and six to the Brokenshire College Inc. in Davao City.
The Bangsamoro Medical Scholarship Program has an allocation of P14.354 million under MOH’s 2021 annual budget.
BRAC
THREE years earlier, the Bangsamoro government tapped a development agency to help it reach out to more children in remote villages as the BARMM struggles with the problem of accessibility.
In 2019, the BARMM Bureau of Public Information said the BRAC has been tapped by the Australian government to implement the Alternative Delivery Model, a component of its Basic Education Assistance for Mindanao, or BEAM. This program aims to provide children in remote areas access to education especially where public education system is inaccessible.
BRAC is an alternative education program founded in Bangladesh and adapted in central Mindanao to allow development workers to reach out to 60,000 children in hard-to-reach areas and former battlegrounds.
The BARMM has acknowledged the effective reach of the education and antipoverty outreach program called BRAC, formerly called Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee and now known as Building Resources Across Communities.
Since 2012, BRAC has established 2,108 learning centers, including seven floating schools, and reached over 60,000 children, the information office said.
In 2019, it disclosed that a total of 1,301 BRAC learners completed their elementary education.
Benefits of a literate population
EFFORTS to bring the Moro population to the classrooms have been paying off, although not in significant increases, data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) would indicate.
Growth in numbers was seen in the three comparative years of 1994 and 2003, when a big portion of the region was still locked in sporadic armed conflict with government, and 2013, during the last caretaker government of the now defunct ARMM.
For example, the percentage of those who cannot read or write was at 32.4 in 1994, or one in every three Bangsamoro residents, with a slight decline to 31.7 in the next comparative year, and plunged to 20.9 by 2013.
Conversely, those who can read and write started at 63.8 percent, or three in every five residents, to a high of 78.2 percent 19 years later. Those who finished high school or higher remained low, however, at 21.9 percent in 2003, decreasing to 20.9 percent in the next comparative year, and to 29.2 in 2013.
Simple literacy was high at 86.1 percent, or almost nine in every 10 residents, by 2013, but it was the female sector that shows higher literacy level at 87.3 percent compared to the male sector, at 84.9 percent. This is remarkable in a region reputed to remain a highly patriarchal society.
The literacy level was taken from the 2013 Functional Literacy, Education and Mass Media Survey (FLEMMS) which the PSA conducted. The survey is done every five years.
The 2013 FLEMMS survey covers about 26,000 sample households in 1,600 barangays in the country. About 1,200 sample households were taken from ARMM.
Marjuni Maddi, assistant secretary for academics of the then ARMM’s Department of Education, said he ascribed the increase to the agency efforts “in solving literacy-related problems.”
These include the regionally applied Abot-Alam, a national program that aims to reach out to out-of-school (OSY) youths who are 15 to 30 years old; and the Alternative Delivery Mode (ADM), a joint program with Basic Education Assistance for Mindanao-ARMM. ADM is being implemented by BRAC Philippines.
The Abot-Alam program would tap the OSYs “who have not completed basic or higher education [and] who are unemployed, and to mobilize and harmonize programs, which will address these OSYs’ needs and aspirations.”
To solidify the regional government’s focus on literacy, Barmm approved in May last year the Education Code, one of six primary codes of laws that the Barmm should pass. The Bangsamoro Education Code (BTA Bill 70) is the act “providing for the establishment, maintenance and support of a complete and integrated system of quality education in the Bangsamoro.”
Iqbal, who filed the bill in 2020, said the legislation is “an embodiment of our aspiration for the Bangsamoro children to have a bright future which is an upshot of a quality education.”
He said it was not the goal to develop a “perfect” Bangsamoro education code, but rather, one that includes significant provisions that will enhance the region’s education system, and will protect the well-being and rights of the teachers and nonteaching staff, parents and learners.
Among the benefits of the code were granting special eligibility for Madrasah teachers, or those teaching Arabic, an important education component for the Muslims to undertand the Qur’an, their holy book, which is written in Arabic.
The code has also provided for a tribal university system “to address the higher educational needs of indigenous peoples (IP), provide a school system where the IPs’ language, culture and traditional knowledge of their elders are incorporated in the curricular and extracurricular activities of the students.”
A key element in the code is peace education, “to be a core component of Bangsamoro education system to instill the culture of non-violence, social justice and respect for human rights, freedom and inclusivity.”
“Education is vital not only because it is a priority of the Bangsamoro government’s development plans, but it is the bedrock on which we build the hope and future of the next generations,” said Minister Iqbal.
Image credits: facebook.com/MohagherIqbal, Manuel T. Cayon