Cotabato city: Lawmakers in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) have initiated significant education reforms after a joint oversight hearing that focused on learning recovery programs, workforce transition efforts, and recent assessments of the education sector.
According to Philippines News Agency, members of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA), the provisional lawmaking body of the BARMM, expressed concerns over the challenges faced by the Ministry of Basic, Higher, and Technical Education (MBHTE) during a public hearing. The joint hearing, conducted by the BTA Committee on Basic, Higher, and Technical Education and the Committee on Finance, Budget and Management, addressed priority interventions aimed at improving learning outcomes and strengthening institutional capacity within the region.
Lawmakers emphasized the importance of the findings from the Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM II), advocating for concrete interventions supported by adequate budgetary allocations to enhance educational outcomes. The EDCOM II report highlighted several critical areas in need of sustained intervention, such as nutrition, early childhood care and development, learning recovery, and foundational literacy. The report also noted concerning statistics, including a 34.3 percent stunting rate, 16.9 percent anemia prevalence, and 48.2 percent household food insecurity, all of which impact children's readiness to learn.
The MBHTE detailed its ongoing initiatives, including the 'Bawat Bata sa Bangsamoro ay Bumabasa at Bumibilang' (5Bs) program, designed to enhance literacy and numeracy through a comprehensive, system-wide approach. Additionally, it was revealed that approximately 30,000 teachers with more than six years of experience lack appointment papers, creating uncertainty in their employment status. BTA parliament member Baintan Ampatuan highlighted this issue, emphasizing the need for legalizing these teachers' status.
Officials also reported that 30,666 positions from the former regional government are undergoing processing and validation for integration into the Bangsamoro government structure. The MBHTE acknowledged a shortage of 5,630 teachers as of March 31 and is addressing this through immediate hiring and accelerated recruitment efforts to ensure schools are adequately staffed and that students have sufficient access to teachers.
Further, the discovery of "item sharing" in the BARMM education sector, where some plantilla items for teachers have two names listed, prompted lawmakers to request that MBHTE officials submit documentation related to the issues uncovered during the hearing.
