MARAWI CITY, Lanao del Sur, Nov 20 (PIA) -- More than 500,000 children in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) will have better access to education as the Australian government through its Agency for International Development (AusAID) poured P3.927 billion (93.5 million Australian dollars) to the region under the Basic Education Assistance for Muslim Mindanao (BEAM)-ARMM program.
“Through this, the Australian government hopes to contribute to the building of better education system that will contribute to peace,” said AusAID First Assistant Director General Rod Brazier.
He said BEAM-ARMM is a symbol of friendship between the people of Mindanao and the Australian government.
BEAM-ARMM will target the most disadvantaged children in ARMM and will provide training and capacitate 20,000 out-of-school-youths in the region.
Mohammad Noor Saada, Department of Education (DepEd) regional assistant secretary, said the BEAM-ARMM has four components that will each be separately implemented by an international non-governmental organization.
The first component is the Early Childhood Education which will be implemented by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
The second component, Essential Health Care Program, will be implemented by GIZ and Fit-for-School while the third and fourth components, namely, Vocational Technology Education and Alternative Delivery Model, will have Cardno and Brac as its implementing partners, respectively.
A memorandum of subsidiary agreement (MSA) was also signed today by ARMM Governor Mujiv Hataman, DepEd Regional Secretary Atty. Jamar Kulayan and Brazier during the launching of the program.
The MSA is the implementing arrangement on how the program will be executed by the regional government and the DepEd- ARMM, as well as how the AusAID will support its implementation.
“There is no project that is in the heart of President Aquino than BEAM-ARMM,” said DepEd Secretary Bro. Armin Luistro.
“This means so much not only to ARMM, but to the whole Philippines for it aims to close all gaps,” he added.
For his part, Hataman said BEAM- ARMM manifests his administration’s commitment to education reform.
In the 23 years existence of DepEd-ARMM, it is only now, through BEAM-ARMM, that the agency was directly involved in the program design, development and approval, the regional governor noted
Hataman is also optimistic that BEAM-ARMM will play a crucial role in bridging the transition to a Bangsamoro system of education. (armmcommgroup/APB/PIA-10)
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