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COTABATO CITY — The Ministry of Basic, Higher and Technical Education (MBHTE) led by Education Minister Mohagher M. Iqbal turned over on October 20, 2025, a newly constructed one-storey, two-classroom school building worth ₱5,685,784.25, along with two concrete school pathways amounting to ₱2,088,118.80 in Campo Muslim, Cotabato City.
Cotabato City is the capital of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).
With a total project cost of ₱7,773,903.048, funded under SB 2025 and supported by Atty. Elijah B. Dumama-Alba, these new infrastructures aim to improve the learning environment, enhance access for students and teachers, and further strengthen the delivery of quality education for Bangsamoro learners.
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, 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.
𝐈𝐧 𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐧 𝐏𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐮𝐧, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧, 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦.
At one public elementary school, over 1,500 children arrived for their first day of class. With the efforts of the MBHTE, and with support from the Australian Government’s Education Pathways to Peace in Mindanao (Pathways) program, schools in hard-to-reach areas of Bangsamoro are now better equipped to welcome young learners with inclusive, quality education from day one.
There were tears, smiles, and a few nerves, especially from the youngest learners, who kept peeking outside to check if their mothers were still there.
Teacher Juhaima Ampuan, who welcomed 40 kindergarten students that morning, with another 45 arriving in the afternoon, shared, “The first day of class is always a bit stressful and chaotic, but it’s so much fun! I’ve learnt patience and picked up a few tricks to handle them along the way.”
Five-year-old Putri was one of them, up early and excited to wear a new uniform, something she had been looking forward to for weeks.
By investing in early education, Australia and the Bangsamoro Government are helping more children, wherever they live, start strong and thrive in school. (✓)