AUSTRALIA SUPPORTS ACCESS TO BETTER EDUCATION
Australian Ambassador to the Philippines Rod Smith (2nd from right), Schools Division Superintendent-DepED Gen. Santos City Division Ms Estrella Lariosa and school principal Harry Villanueva lead the inauguration of a two-classroom school building in the Bawing Elementary School in General Santos City. These classrooms were built with Australian Government assistance through AusAID amounting to Php 1.2 million, under the World Bank-managed Support to the Philippine Basic Education Reforms (SPHERE) Trust Fund. An estimated 150 students will benefit from use of these classrooms.
SPHERE, a Php 1.4 billion partnership of AusAID and the World Bank, supports the Department of Education to implement and manage basic education sector reforms, and will also support the construction of classrooms, teaching and learning resource centres across the country, development of teaching/learning materials and provide school grants in over 200 disadvantaged elementary schools in southern Philippines.