BEAM awards P19M-grant to ARMM public schools

Heads of School Governing Councils in the province of Maguindanao headed by DepEd-Maguindanao Division Superintendent Meriam Kawit (third from right) received on September 3, this year, the P3M-school grant [parcel of the P19M-grant] from AusAID through BEAM that would help reinforce the School-Based Management program being implemented in public schools in ARMM. Three hundred eighty (380) public schools from 11 school divisions around the region have benefited the grant. Leading the awarding ceremony were AusAID Acting Project Director Ramon C. Bobier (second from right) and AusAID Acting Deputy Project Director Rosemary Green (extreme right).



COTABATO CITY – The Department of Education in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (DepEd-ARMM) received today [September 03] a P19 million-school grant from the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) through the Basic Education Assistance for Mindanao (BEAM) that seeks to provide reinforcement to the School-Based Management (SBM) program being implemented in public schools in the region.

The SBM, which is designed to advance the quality and access of students to basic education has two key activities – the implementation of School Improvement Plan (SIP) and strengthening of School Governing Councils (SGC) – through building capacities of school administrators and teachers as well as bracing engagement of parents and the community to education stakeholders. More than a hundred individuals who were members of SGC, Local School Boards (LSB) and Parents, Teachers and Community Association (PTCA) attended the ceremony at the Estosan Garden Hotel here.

Ramon C. Bobier, Acting Australian Project Director for BEAM, said at the signing ceremony that the school grant will boost and sustain efforts to continually support public schools’ implementation of SIP.

“This grant is especially drafted for ARMM to augment the needs of its public schools – to enhance your schools, not only physically, but the quality of the learning outcomes of each ARMM student,” Bobier said.

The school grant, which will be allocated in three modes, benefits 380 public schools from 11 school divisions around the five-province autonomous region – Basilan (26), Lamitan (8), Sulu I (42), Sulu II (40), Tawi-Tawi (45), Marawi (13), Lanao del Sur I-A (31), Lanao del Sur II-A (42), Lanao del Sur II-B (29) and Maguindanao (61). The selection of the school-grant recipient had meet the following criteria – actively implementing its SIP with stakeholders, has organized and functional SGC and is using BEAM Learning Guides.

The modes are (1) Incentive-First Time, where P50,000 is apportioned to a performing school that meets that criteria and first time to receive the grant, (2) Incentive-Second Grant, where P30,000 is allotted to a performing school that has been a recipient of the DepEd National SBM Grant but is selected again for being able to meet the criteria and (3) Grant for Disadvantaged Schools, where P50,000 is allocated to remote and far-flung areas that needs financial assistance in the SIP implementation.

Beforehand, the recipients had undergone series of trainings to ensure effective implementation, monitoring and evaluation of their respective school improvement plans. Training component is one of the elements of the school grant.

Bobier added, “These beneficiaries were trained prior the distribution of grants. They have to go through financial management training to guarantee that their funds will be safeguarded properly. We just pray that they [beneficiaries] will use this grant effectively to totally upgrade the quality of basic education in the ARMM.”

The BEAM had already trained 2,017 school heads in the region on planning for school improvement and other mechanisms. Workshops were also conducted to develop the plans according to the existent needs of the school which eventually functioned as blueprint for school development.

ARMM Regional Governor Datu Zaldy Uy Ampatuan, grateful to BEAM’s continuous assistance to the education sector of ARMM, earlier appealed to the recipients of the grant programs to “utilize them effectively.” (BPI-ARMM*)