Bangsamoro education agency supports return to F2F classes
@edd1819 | @bluestar0910 | SDN – Science and Digital News
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(SDN) —Face-to-face (F2F) classes have received a shot in the arm from the Ministry of Basic, Higher and Technical Education (MBHTE) headed by Bangsamoro Education Minister Mohagher M. Iqbal.
The MBHTE will provide a one-time Php50,000 support fund for such schools as educational institutions in the Bangsamoro Region of Muslin Mindanao (BARMM) as the region joins efforts to expand F2F classes, which the over-two years coronavirus pandemic has and continues to stall nationwide. MBHTE’s support fund is for BARMM schools piloting an expanded F2F classes.
But as the “new normal” (meaning life with masks and social distancing and hand-washing) sees no end in sight for the near future, education officials at the Department of Education (DepEd) and Commission on Higher Education (CHED) are attempting to go back to the old normal of F2F classes.
The Bangsamoro region under the leadership of Chief Minister Al-Hajj Murad Ebrahim is made up of Basilan, Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi provinces, the cities of Cotabato, Lamitan, and Marawi as well as 63 villages designated as Special Geographic Area (SGA) in North Cotabato province (which itself is not part of BARMM).
It was made possible through the Bangsamoro Organic Law’s (BOL) implementation of the 2014 Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB), giving rise to a new political entity (NPE). The BARMM abolished and replaced the 20 years old ARMM.
Quality education for the Bangsamoro youth is one of the CAB’s avowed commitments, which Minister Iqbal’s agency is trying to achieve.
On April 6, he issued Regional Memorandum No. 365, Series of 2022 titled “Support Fund to Schools Piloting the Limited Face-to-Face Classes.
One-shot support fund of Php50K
He addressed the memorandum to all schools division superintendents, assistant schools division superintendents, concerned district supervisors, principals/school heads of concerned schools, concerned schools finance/disbursing officers.
“The Ministry of Basic, Higher and Technical Education shall provide a one-shot support fund for the schools participating in the piloting and expansion of face-to-classes,” Minister Iqbal says in the memorandum.
He added the support fund is worth Php50,000 for each participating school to be “downloaded directly to their respective account subject to the usual accounting and auditing rules and regulations.” As soon as the fund’s purpose has been achieved the concerned schools should liquidate the amount.
Anyone with issues to raise may do so by writing using the email address of “armm.hnu@deped.gov.ph” or call the phone number 0905-081-4221.
The MBHTE is one of the line agencies of the Bangsamoro government, which is in the form of a parliament. — EKU (✓)
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Featured image is MBHTE Minister Mohagher M. Iqbal.