BARMM-MBHTE Deputy Minister Haron S. Meling. (Credit: MBHTE)
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COTABATO CITY — The Ministry of Basic, Higher and Technical Education (MBHTE), through its Directorate General for Basic Education’s (DGBE) Quality Assurance Section, is holding the First BARMM Education Summit for Private Schools at the KCC Convention Center, Cotabato City.
The 2-day activity, which began on October 1 concluded on October 2, carrying the theme: “Shaping the Bangsamoro Education Together: Empowering Private Schools through Partnership for Inclusive, Innovative & Quality Education for Every Bangsamoro Learner.”
This event gathered private school administrators and officials from the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) with the mutual goal of working together for better education services.
In his welcome address, the Director General for Basic Education, Abdullah Salik, Jr., said, “this Summit serves as a platform for areas of improvement and room for collaboration to address pressing issues in education here in BARMM, so no Bangsamoro learner is left behind.”
The activity featured plenary sessions, panel discussions, and workshops led by MBHTE officials, the Department of Education (DepEd), and invited education experts. These sessions focused on private school management, policy updates, and improving teaching and learning.
Minister Mohagher M. Iqbal, represented by Deputy Minister Haron S. Meling, said the summit was essential in building stronger ties between the Ministry and the private schools sector.
“I hope in the coming years, more Private School Education Summits will be held, so that we can continue to cope, develop, and strengthen the relationship of the Private Education Sectors to the Ministry. I look forward to the fruitful collaboration in the coming days,” he said.
Director III of the Private Education Office, Vernice Lorraine D. Quintana, and Certification Unit Head of Private Education Assistance Committee, Bronzon Patrick Del Rosario from the DepEd Central Office, were the guest speakers who discussed the importance of Private Schools in advancing literacy and numeracy in Basic Education, key features of the Revised DepEd Order No. 88, s. 2010, other related issuances, Policy Guidelines for Granting Government Assistance to students and teachers in Private Education (GASTPE), and Operationalizing Public – Private Complimentary Ways forward.
The event marked an essential step for the MBHTE and private school stakeholders to strengthen cooperation and ensure that every Bangsamoro learner — whether in public or private school — has access to quality and inclusive education.
Established in 2018 by the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) to implement the 2014 Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB), the Bangsamoro region is made up of the provinces of Basilan, Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao del Sur, Maguindanao del Norte, and Tawi-Tawi, the cities of Cotabato, Lamitan, and Marawi, as well as the Special Geographic Area’s (SGA) 63 barangays or villages — now eight new municipalities — that voted “Yes” in a plebiscite in February 2019 to be under the BARMM jurisdiction.
According to the Philippine Atlas BARMM has 4,404,288 people. It has 116 municipalities: 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. (✓)