Australia helps improve basic education services in ARMM
Australia is continuing its support to improve the delivery of basic education to Muslim school children with the inauguration on 28 March of the Department of Education-Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (DepEd-ARMM) extension building in Cotabato City. The building construction was funded through the Australian Government-supported Basic Education Assistance for Mindanao-ARMM (BEAM-ARMM) program.
Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) Counsellor Elaine Ward and DepEd-ARMM Secretary Atty. Jamar Kulayan led the inauguration ceremony of the two-storey DepED-ARMM building.
The new building will bring together the financial and human resource management of DepED-ARMM and the project office of the BEAM-ARMM program under one roof. This will substantially improve the policy development and planning in education for ARMM.
“The new office building is a legacy of Australia’s commitment and support to help achieve peace and development in Mindanao, particularly through improved delivery of education services for children in the ARMM. The strong partnership through the BEAM-ARMM provides a momentous opportunity to continue the on-going management improvements at DepED ARMM,” AusAID Counsellor Elaine Ward said.
The Australian Government through AusAID is supporting the new ARMM government’s reform agenda for DepED-ARMM. The BEAM-ARMM program will help to improve management systems within DepED ARMM, including coordinating development assistance and local initiatives to improve the quality of education. The newly constructed building will help DepED-ARMM lead the implementation of education initiatives that will improve student learning outcomes in the region.
The BEAM-ARMM, a six year education program of DepED-ARMM in partnership with AusAID, aims to benefit over 500,000 children in ARMM. BEAM-ARMM will help construct new classrooms, science laboratories, school libraries; provide schools with water and sanitation facilities and learning materials; and improve quality of teaching by training teachers.
BEAM-ARMM will target the most disadvantaged children in 300 barangays without public schools. The program will cover both public and private madaris and will also provide employment-related skills training for 20,000 out-of-school youth to equip them to better access economic opportunities.
Australia helps improve basic education services in ARMM. Australia, through the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID), is continuing its support to improve the delivery of basic education to Muslim school children through the Basic Education Assistance for Mindanao-Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BEAM-ARMM) program. BEAM-ARMM supported the construction of the Department of Education-Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (DepEd-ARMM) extension building, which will bring together the financial and human resource management of DepED-ARMM under one roof. Present at the recent inauguration and handover ceremony of the building were (L-R): AusAID Education Specialist Tess Felipe, AusAID Counsellor Elaine Ward, DepEd-ARMM Secretary Atty. Jamar Kulayan, DepEd-ARMM Asst. Secretary for Operations Noor Mohammad Saada, and DepEd-ARMM Undersecretary for Madaris Education Alzad Sattar.