BARMM News
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COTABATO CITY (SDN) — School children in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region (BAR) have welcomed this year’s face-to-face (F2F) classes that started on August 22, 2022 with joy and eagerness.
This is reckoned from comments posted apparently by teachers as the Ministry of Basic, Higher and Technical Education (MBHTE) headed by Minister Mohagher M. Iqbal asked how was the first week of the F2F classes in the region.
There were many replies, mostly pointing to school kids welcoming their being in their classrooms and seeing their classmates in-person again after two years of absence.
“Alhamdulillah (Praise God)!…ok na ok po..napaka saya ang mga mag-aaral sa DPS…sa unang pasok nila sa school sana po mabigyan ninyo sila ng upuan”, says Soraida Ayonan Mipangkat.
“Alhamdulillah. Super excited po ang mga mag-aaral sa Linuk Elementary School, Lower Madamba District. Kaya lang kulang na kulang amg mga upuan at mesa namin dahil mula umpisa dikami nasali sa mapalad na nabigyan ng upuan at mesa para sa mga batta. Advance shukran (thank you) po,” shares Amerah Punginagina.
“Alhamdulillah! Ligtas po na nakapagbukas tayo ng school, super excited ang mga bata at mga magulang sa unang linggo ng F22F classes. Tulad ng ibang school dito sa Dilausan Central Elementary School ay upuan po ang problema namin. Karamihan sa mga upuan namin ay improvised or recycled. Sana makasali kami sa bibigyan ng upuan,” relates Nobaisah Guro Abbas.
“Ok na ok po.. pero kulang po ang mga upuan dahil sa dami ng pupils sa isang classroom…sana po matugunan po ito ng MBHTE. Salamat po,” remarks Deslu Casipe Geronio.
“Nakaka-inspire ang sisispag ng mga batang pumasok pgpapatunay lamang na gusto nilang matuto at na-miss nila and 2 taong walang face-to-face classes,” says Jing Pascua.
After two years of studies done online because of the pandemic, educational institutions have opened School Year 2022-2023 to face-to-face classes.
‘Teach your children well,’ the classic Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young song says. (Photos: MBHTE)
Over in the BARMM, the MBHTE had started its F2F education like other schools nationwide.
Young kids have shown up in their classrooms, surely happy that online lessons are a thing of the past. Or so it seems.
Be that as it may, Iqbal’s MBHTE has called on families to help their kids in their studies.
“Due to the significance of education to the future of this nation and the need to recover from the education shortfalls in the last two years, there is no excuse for mediocrity, poor service, and especially corrupt practices.”
— Education Minister Mohagher M. Iqbal
In relation with the opening of F2F school year, Iqbal’s MBHTE has been hiring new teachers to man classrooms in the Bangsamoro region.
On August 26, the MBHTE’s Iqbal formerly signed the appointment papers of 44 new teachers, and promoted 51 principals for Cotabato City, Maguindanao I, and Special Geographic Area (SGA).
Eight elementary and 11 secondary teachers went to Cotabato City, the 51 principals newly promoted to Maguindanao I, and 25 elementary teachers going to SGA.
The education minister of the Bangsamoro cited the importance to education reforms of the hiring of new teachers and promotion of competent persons.
“Due to the significance of education to the future of this nation and the need to recover from the education shortfalls in the last two years, there is no excuse for mediocrity, poor service, and especially corrupt practices,” said Iqbal.
He encouraged BARMM civil servants, particularly those under MBHTE to strive “to contribute to the prosperity and stability” of the Bangsamoro region through “quality, accessible, balanced and relevant education.”
The Bangsamoro region established in 2018 by the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) to implement the 2014 Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB), is made up of the provinces of Basilan, Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi, the cities of Cotabato, Lamitan, and Marawi, as well as the 63 SGA villages that voted “yes” in a plebiscite in January and February 2019 to be under the BARMM jurisdiction.
Its population per the Philippine Atlas has 4,404,288 people. It has 116 municipalities: Basilan, 11 municipalities; Lanao del Sur, 39; Maguindanao, 36; Sulu, 19; and Tawi-Tawi, 11. Its component cities are Cotabato (the regional center and capital) in Maguindanao; Lamitan in Basilan; and Marawi in Lanao del Sur. (✓)