MARAWI CITY, Lanao del Sur, Dec.
19 (PIA) --- The Basic Education Assistance for Muslim Mindanao (BEAM), a
program funded by the Australian government currently implemented in the
Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) has provided livelihood skills
training to roughly 10,000 youth beneficiaries since it was launched in 2013.
In the province of Tawi-Tawi
alone, at least 2,000 out-of-school youth were trained under the program.
“BEAM-ARMM provides our
out-of-school youth with opportunities to live a better life,” said Tawi-Tawi
Governor Nurbert Sahali during the first visit to the province of an Australian
delegation comprising of high-ranking officials.
On Friday, December 11,
Australia’s Federal Justice Minister Hon Michael Keenan MP and the Australian
Embassy’s Deputy Head of Mission, David Dutton, were in the provincial capital
of Bongao to meet with local government officials and out-of-school youth
representatives.
A statement from the Australian
embassy said the visit “was part of Mr Keenan’s trip to the Philippines to
discuss counter-terrorism cooperation under the comprehensive
Australia-Philippines partnership.” The Australian government is one of the
largest donors to the country’s education sector with an annual investment of
approximately P1.3 billion.
A five-year initiative, BEAM-ARMM
is a comprehensive education and youth development program that contributes to
poverty alleviation and emergence of peace in ARMM through targeted investments
in basic education and the training of out-of-school youth in
technical-vocational courses.
The training courses include small
engine servicing, masonry, electrical installation maintenance, carpentry,
dressmaking, cooking, solar lamp installation and maintenance, and baking,
among others.
Yasser Usani, 21, a young man
trained to be a barber, said he is already earning from working part-time at a barbershop
established last year with support from the program. “The training helped me
pursue my college education,” the statement said, adding, Usani was not able to
enrol in college in previous years due financial constraints.
Another beneficiary, Sonora
Sampang, 26, said she is now a dressmaker expressing hope to put up her own
dressmaking shop to earn bigger income. Out-of-school youth who completed the
BEAM-ARMM training receive Technical Education and Skills Development Authority
certificates that can be used in applying for local and foreign-based jobs, the
statement added. (BPI/PIA-10)
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