COTABATO CITY — Local executives called on the 80-seat Bangsamoro Transition Authority to make an audit and evaluation of dilapidated schools in the region’s 116 municipalities as they welcomed three proposed measures to: establish a high school in every barangay; a technical skills facility in every municipality; and integrate special education (SPED) in public schools.
The Public Information and Media Relations Division of the parliament of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) explained in a statement over the weekend that Bill 252 that was filed last week is an enabling measure for the establishment of at least one high school in each of the barangays in BARMM’s component towns.
Reacting to this development, local executives said there are existing schools that can still be fixed to ensure cost-efficiency in the implementation of Bill 252, along with Bills 253 and 255. There are 2,590 barangays covered by BARMM.
“This pro-poor, pro-peace bill is meant to improve the quality of secondary education in BARMM,” one of its authors, Parliament Member Baintan A. Ampatuan, said on Sunday.
The Bill 253, on the other hand, aims to establish one technical skills learning center for each of the municipality in BARMM, alongside a learning facility for “special children” as proposed via the Bill 255.
Myra B. Mangkabung, superintendent of schools in Lamitan City in Basilan, said Sunday she and her subordinate-mentors and school principals are in favor of the three proposed regional edicts, for them “high-ticket” interventions that can improve the quality of education in the Bangsamoro region.
“That is long overdue. We are in favor of having one public high school in all of the barangays in Lamitan City and in all the municipalities in Basilan,” Ms. Mangkabung said.
Ms. Mangkabung said SPED facilities for children with learning handicaps are also needed in all of the municipalities in the Bangsamoro region.
“Having a high school in each barangay in the Bangsamoro region will solve the problem of overcrowding in high schools in its municipalities. No high school student must be left behind. That is our goal here,” Parliament Member Suharto M. Ambolodto, a co-sponsor of the bills, said.
Gerard M. Cagayan, a public elementary school teacher, said he would be happy seeing a high school rise in each of the barangays in his hometown, Upi in Maguindanao del Norte, where ethnic non-Moro Tedurays walk long distances every day to attend classes in areas far from their homes. — John Felix M. Unson
