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COTABATO CITY — The Bangsamoro Government through its Ministry of Basic, Higher and Technical Education (MBHTE) has warned those asking for money for the processing of applications for the Access to Higher and Modern Education Scholarship Program (AHME-SP).
Headed by Minister Mohagher M. Iqbal, the MBHTE is one of the 15 primary ministries of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).
Iqbal has been putting in place reforms in the Bangsamoro region’s education sector since 2019, including the hiring of new teaching and non-teaching personnel, construction of new school buildings, distribution of IT equipment and devices, school supplies, among others.
At the time of the now-defunct Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), it was common knowledge among the Bangsamoro people that applicants for teachers, especially, were asked to pay certain amounts for their applications’ processing.
During the ARMM tenure that lasted for 20 years or so, there were also ghost schools and ghost teachers.
With the advent of the BARMM, particularly its education ministry under Iqbal, the MBHTE has been getting rid of these anomalous practices that date back to ARMM.
The MBHTE’s Office of the Directorate General for Higher Education (MBHTE) said it received reports and complaints “about individuals asking for monetary payments to process applications for the Access to Higher and Modern Education Scholarship Program (AHME-SP).”
Aside from the DGHE, the MBHTE also has Directorates General for Basic Education (DGBE), Madaris Education (DGME), and Technical Education (DGTE).
Thus, the DGHE of the MBHTE was compelled to issue a clarification and assurance that “since the establishment of AHME-SP in 2020, the MBHTE DGHE has not, in any form, required nor collected payments from the applicants.”
It further advised applicants for the scholarship program to reject any demand for payment from any individual.
“We advise all applicants not to give any payments to anyone. If you encounter individuals who requires so, please report them immediately at this mobile number 0905-1519-138, as this is fraudulent and not associated with our program.”
The MBHTE conducted on July 14, 2024, its AHME-SP competitive examination for Academic Year (AY) 2024-2025, where the Ministry selects 1,400 passers yearly the scholarship grant.
AHME, which may also stand for “Al-Haj Murad Ebrahim”, is a flagship scholarship assistance initiative of the BARMM.
It can be recalled the batch of the AHME beneficiary students graduated this school year, a total of 1,400 finishers many of whom would not have been able to complete their studies without the highly needed scholarship program. MBHTE-AHME grants every scholar a total of Php60,000 for every semester but have to maintain a certain level of grade.
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 del Sur, Maguindanao del Norte, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi, the cities of Cotabato, Lamitan, and Marawi, as well as the Special Geographic Area’s (SGA) 63 barangays or villages that voted “Yes” in a plebiscite in February 2019 to be under the BARMM jurisdiction. With the recent plebiscite at SGA, the BARMM now has eight new municipalities as residents voted “Yes”.
According to the Philippine Atlas BARMM has 4,404,288 people. It has 116 municipalities (plus eight newly established under the SGA: Basilan, 11 municipalities; Lanao del Sur, 39; undivided 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. — EDD K. USMAN per MBHTE announcement (✓)