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COTABATO CITY — The Ministry of Basic, Higher and Technical Education (MBHTE), through its Bureau of Special Education (BSPED), has reinforced its commitment to inclusive and equitable education in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) by successfully conducting a five-day Professional Development Training for K-12 teachers on Teaching Pedagogies, Values Education, and Inclusive School Approaches from December 7 to 12, 2025, at the University of the Philippines Diliman, Quezon City, Metro Manila.
MBHTE’s training activity focused on making inclusive education work in BARMM through the Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) using targeted and individualized interventions. It gathered receiving teachers, school heads, and Special Education (SpEd) Division focal persons from SpEd-implementing schools across ten BARMM schools divisions.
The activity aimed to strengthen educators’ competencies in MTSS implementation, learner assessment, and the development of Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) and Behavior Intervention Plans (BIPs). It underscored the importance of early intervention, evidence-based decision-making, and responsive instructional practices in supporting learners with disabilities, learning difficulties, and other special educational needs.
Leading the event was BSPED Director Alkhan U. Sangkula, Ph.D., and spearheaded by the BSPED Regional Team, in line with the policy direction of Minister Mohagher M. Iqbal and MBHTE Basic Education Director General Abdullah P. Salik, JD, who continue to champion inclusive education as a cornerstone of the Bangsamoro education reform agenda.
The training featured Dr. Lutze-Sol Aplaon Vidal of the University of the Philippines College of Education (UP CE), together with Teacher May and Sarah Grace L. Candelario, as resource persons. They provided technical guidance on inclusive education practices, psychoeducational assessment, early intervention strategies, IEP development, and behavior management, all aligned with Republic Act No. 11650, or the Inclusive Education Law.
This initiative reflects MBHTE’s sustained efforts to institutionalize inclusive education systems across BARMM, ensuring that policies are translated into classroom practices and that every Bangsamoro learner is seen, supported, and given the opportunity to succeed.
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. (✓)