DAVAO CITY—The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has provided tablets for basic education in selected areas in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), as well as an automated weather station to its capital Cotabato City.
USAID’s deputy mission director Rebekah Eubanks on March 14 joined officials of the Bangsomoro government in Cotabato City, led by Cabinet Secretary Mohd Asnin Pendatun and Ministry of Basic, Higher and Technical Education (MBHTE) deputy minister Haron Meling to launch a P15-million ($273,000) technology-based education program in pilot areas in the region.
Eubanks launched the program and distributed learning tablets to deliver reading instruction to students in Kindergarten through Grade 3. The gadgets contain early-grade reading materials, which include video-based beginning reading instructional modules in Hiligaynon, Central Bikol, and Magindanawn.
“USAID works with national- and local-government partners to introduce innovations that will ensure learning continuity and improve literacy, including reading proficiency of early-grade learners,” Eubanks said. “As a friend, partner and ally, the US will continue to support BARMM in providing learners with quality education and competencies [enabling] them to thrive and have successful futures.”
Meling said the agency’s intervention serves as “a valuable tool to improve the learning of the Bangsamoro children.”
“We welcome the ‘Beginning Reading’ program, as it will ensure the learning of children through portable video devices that can work even without the Internet,” the deputy minister stated. “We will work together to ensure that no Bangsamoro child will be left behind by providing inclusive and sustainable education.”
“We want to express gratitude to USAID for their support to the whole…region. We will continue to serve with pure hearts and sincere intention to give Bangsamoro children a brighter future,” Pendatun said.
Eubanks also launched the “Education Sector Mechanism” with Mayor Mohammad Ali de la Cruz Matabalao of Cotabato City. This mechanism will allow education stakeholders in the government and private sector to identify challenges and areas of collaboration to improve the city’s quality of education, according to the Bangsamoro Information Office.
Through its “ABC+” project, USAID provides early-grade reading materials for students and aids teacher development to improve basic education outcomes in literacy, as well as social and emotional learning for all Bangsamoro children.
At the launch of “Beginning Reading,” the USAID official once sat down in a storytelling session with Grade 3 students of Notre Dame Village Elementary School in Cotabato City.
She also handed over automated weather station (AWS) tools to Matabalao “for the city government to collect weather and climate data, and provide real-time weather monitoring and assessment.” The equipment, she said, would boost the city’s disaster management and mapping capabilities to contribute to the region’s climate resilience.
“Building a resilient city requires sharing of experiences within and among our communities,” Matabalao said. “I look forward to more joint cooperation and positive progress in mainstreaming climate adaptation, mitigation and disaster-risk reduction actions in our respective local land use plans, local development plans, and zoning ordinances.”
Through its “Climate Resilient Cities” project, USAID is improving the resilience of six Philippine cities: Batangas, Borongan, Cotabato, Iloilo, Legazpi and Zamboanga, so that they are capable to adapt to, mitigate, and manage the impacts of climate change and other disasters.
