Officials of the BARMM’s Ministry of Education (from left) Abdulllah Salik Jr. Al Haj, Director General of Basic Education, Minister Mohagher Iqbal (2nd from left), and Deputy Minister Haron Melingis (right) joined by Ina Aquino, Chief of Party of USAID ABC+ Project, during the handover of Magindanawn reading materials. (Photo courtesy of US Embassy)
ILIGAN CITY — The United States government has given nearly P10 million worth of reading materials for some 100,000 school-aged Magindanawn children.
The materials were handed over to the Ministry of Basic, Higher, and Technical Education (MBHTE) of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in Davao City recently.
According to the US Embassy, the reading materials are in Magindanawn language and are intended for children in Kindergarten to Grade 3 levels in the province of Maguindanao, Cotabato City, and the BARMM villages in Cotabato province.
“As education systems continue to rebuild amid the COVID-19 pandemic, USAID will continue working with partners to mitigate learning losses, equip educators and institutions to be more resilient and adaptive to the current situation, and ensure children have continuous access to quality education,” said Yvette Malcioln, USAID Philippines Acting Office Director for Education.
Digital versions of the materials will soon be available through the online portal of the Department of Education (DepEd).
USAID supported the training of 40 local Bangsamoro writers, illustrators, editors, and evaluators to develop the reading materials; developing and distributing 77 books in Magindanawn; and translating or adapting 45 titles into Magindanawn.
BARMM Education Minister Mohagher Iqbal expressed gratitude for the effort saying it is expected “to improve our children’s reading comprehension through specially-designed and quality-assured early grade books in Magindanawn.”
Through its ABC+: Advancing Basic Education in the Philippines project, which is carried out in partnership with the Department of Education, USAID has distributed more than nine million early grade reading materials, including books in various mother tongues, to over 600,000 students and 42,000 teachers.
The project aims to ensure that young children will continue to have access to quality education and learning, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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