A Muslim girl who is out of school the past years takes an examination in an effort to go back and study in Maguindanao. (Zamboanga Journal)MAGUINDANAO (Zamboanga Journal / 06 Feb) Brian Kamir dreams of becoming a basketball superstar, just like his idol the legendary Michael Jordan. But the 15-year Filipino boy who only finished Grade 5 says there is still hope for him and all he needs to do now is study hard, find a good job and then play basketball and be a star.
Of course, Brian, the son of a poor Muslim couple in Parang town -- once ravaged by war between troops and Muslim rebels -- has one more important dream to fulfill in his life and that is to help the big family and get them out of poverty, at least a better life for all of them.
Brian was only one of more than 1,200 out-of-school children who took the educational placement tests in five towns in Maguindanao province over the weekend. And all of them have only one goal -- pass the 6 hour examinations -- and return to school and study again.
"I do not know what the results would be, but I pray hard all night before the day of the test that Allah may help us all pass the examinations. I really want to go back to school and study again, get a job after college, help my family and be a superstar in the basketball court, just like Michael Jordan," he tells the Zamboanga Journal.
The examinations, held in the towns of Parang, Buldon, Barira, and North and South Upi, were part of the program for Alternative Learning System of the Department of Education and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) under its so-called Education Quality and Access for Learning and Livelihood Skills or EQuALLS.
Aside from the USAID, the Notre Dame Foundation for Charitable Activities, Inc., - Women in Enterprise Development and the Creative Associates International Inc., were also actively helping thousands of out-of-school children and different government learning centers in the Muslim autonomous region and the Zamboanga Peninsula.
"We are targeting at least 5,000 children, those who are out of school in the Muslim autonomous region, so they may have a chance to go back and study and have a bright future, help their families and maybe help the communities too."
"And all these, of course, with the support of the USAID, which is very active various humanitarian projects in Mindanao," says Sanima Kamenza, project officer for the ACCESS-Mindanao, which stands for Accreditation and Equivalency Support Program for Out-Of-School Children and Youth in Mindanao.
The USAID support for the project is 5 years, but now on its first year, many out-of-school children and teachers working for the ALS program are appealing this early to Washington to extend its aid so that more poor Filipino children will benefit from this.
"Many of us are really thankful to the American people and their government, and without them I don't think the government would be able to undertake this huge task. We hope the USAID will extend its support to the many children like us who really wanted to study and someday help other kids too."
"I also pray that they give the schools more books and other education materials for the sake of those like us, and sustainable livelihood programs for our poor people," says 17-year old Meldy Briol, who dreams of becoming a journalist someday.
Late last year, over 3,300 out-of-school children also took the same tests in Basilan, Tawi-Tawi and Lanao del Sur provinces, all part of the Muslim autonomous region, the poorest in the Philippines.
Before they were given the tests, the out-of-school children undergo 9 months of specialized education and review classes to prepare them for the written examinations, Kamenza says.
She swears that teaching the children takes a lot of efforts and patience. "It is a tough job, but we love the children and treat them like our own. We are one big family here and there is only one goal and that is to bring them back to school and study again," she says.
Just like Said Buaya, who at the age of 60, still treks mountains in Maguindanao and in North Cotabato to bring non-formal education to many people both young and old.
"Learning is a constant process, it never stops and that's what drives me to bring education to as far as those mountains you see up ahead," he says, pointing to an area where once the fortified headquarters of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front were located, the Camp Abubakar as Siddique, was located.
The rebel base was gone, but the place is now home to thousands of poor Muslims who have no access to education. And for Said, who works for the Department of Education, teaching his people to read and write was a promise he made when he was still a boy.
"I don't think of anything anymore, but to help the others while I still can. And my wish now is that more people will benefit from all the humanitarian projects America is giving us," he says.
Washington has pledged to help more in various humanitarian and education programs in Mindanao.
USAID will also support the setting up of apprenticeship programs in the poorest, school-less and conflict-affected areas in the Muslim autonomous region to help out-of-school youth improve their chances for future employment while earning education credits comparable to formal elementary and secondary education under the Department of Education’s Non-Formal Education Accreditation and Equivalency system.
Just last week, Dr. Thomas, chief officer of the Education office of the USAID-Philippines, inspected the Broce Central Elementary School in Datu Odin Sinsuat in Maguindanao and has promised to provide more assistance to the Muslim autonomous region, where his group is funding various trainings for teachers.
"We are so glad to see the teachers are happy about the training and we promised that there will be more training in various programs under the EQuALLS project," Kral says.
Kral also inspected different classrooms and said he will work to provide more assistance to the school. Many teachers have complained the school has no library and lack readings materials and appealed to Kral for donations.
The USAID earlier provided the school with books and other materials for the repair of many dilapidated rooms.
Lorina Aquino, program director of the Creative Associates International Inc., which is helping USAID humanitarian projects in the Philippines, said the training program would benefit about 3,000 teachers. "And this is just the start of many more trainings to come under the USAID programs," she says.
EQuALLS have already trained about more than 100 teachers in the Muslim autonomous region and 90 more in the Zamboanga Peninsula.
On Friday, Kral also led the launching of the Education and Livelihood Skills Alliance (ELSA), In-School Youth Engagement Program to help train Filipino high school students and inspire them to become responsible community leaders.
ELSA, founded in 2004, is a three-year multi-stakeholder partnership that seeks to create and expand school and community-based learning and job training programs for young people in Mindanao, especially in the Muslim autonomous region and other conflict-affected areas in the Zamboanga Peninsula.
It also has programs in the provinces of North and South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, and Sarangani and in the cities of Zamboanga, Cotabato, Marawi and General Santos, Aquino said.
ELSA is an alliance of international and Philippine Non-governmental organizations, foundations, and education institutions, including the International Youth Foundation, the Ayala Foundation, the Consuelo Foundation, and Petron Foundation, Philippines Business for Social Progress and the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization- Regional Center for Innovation and Technology (SEAMEO-INNOTECH).
Its work is strengthened by funding assistance from the USAID also under the EQuALLS program.
This alliance seeks to create and expand school and community-based learning and employment opportunities. And to lower the high drop-out rate and raise school participation and completion rates. ELSA is also upgrading school infrastructure, mobilizing Parent Teacher Community Associations (PTCAs), strengthening Alternative Learning Systems, and providing opportunities for positive youth leadership engagement.
"We are helping this particular area of Mindanao because it is the area that is most in need and the area most subject to instability and by addressing the needs of children we are laying a strong foundation for the future of the children. The children's education really holds the key of the future of this part of the country," he says.
EQuALLS seeks to carry out targeted program with focus on Mindanao to address high illiteracy and drop-out rates, improve learning of math, science and the English language, particularly at the elementary level and address special problems of out-of-work youth in the conflict-affected areas.
USAID will also provide assistance in developing and producing a ten-part video series on livelihood and business development skills for screening in community and alternative learning centers.
New schools and alternative learning centers will receive books through the donated book program. A new educational TV video series will be developed this year on peace education to be shown in schools and alternative learning centers.
The American Foreign Policy Council-Asia Pacific Initiative began implementing a model schools project under its existing Development for Peace in Sulu project. Seven elementary and five high schools in the island are being established as model schools with increased involvement by parents, teachers, and the community. These schools will have the potential to serve as teacher training and vocational training centers.
Of course, Brian, the son of a poor Muslim couple in Parang town -- once ravaged by war between troops and Muslim rebels -- has one more important dream to fulfill in his life and that is to help the big family and get them out of poverty, at least a better life for all of them.
Brian was only one of more than 1,200 out-of-school children who took the educational placement tests in five towns in Maguindanao province over the weekend. And all of them have only one goal -- pass the 6 hour examinations -- and return to school and study again.
"I do not know what the results would be, but I pray hard all night before the day of the test that Allah may help us all pass the examinations. I really want to go back to school and study again, get a job after college, help my family and be a superstar in the basketball court, just like Michael Jordan," he tells the Zamboanga Journal.
The examinations, held in the towns of Parang, Buldon, Barira, and North and South Upi, were part of the program for Alternative Learning System of the Department of Education and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) under its so-called Education Quality and Access for Learning and Livelihood Skills or EQuALLS.
Aside from the USAID, the Notre Dame Foundation for Charitable Activities, Inc., - Women in Enterprise Development and the Creative Associates International Inc., were also actively helping thousands of out-of-school children and different government learning centers in the Muslim autonomous region and the Zamboanga Peninsula.
"We are targeting at least 5,000 children, those who are out of school in the Muslim autonomous region, so they may have a chance to go back and study and have a bright future, help their families and maybe help the communities too."
"And all these, of course, with the support of the USAID, which is very active various humanitarian projects in Mindanao," says Sanima Kamenza, project officer for the ACCESS-Mindanao, which stands for Accreditation and Equivalency Support Program for Out-Of-School Children and Youth in Mindanao.
The USAID support for the project is 5 years, but now on its first year, many out-of-school children and teachers working for the ALS program are appealing this early to Washington to extend its aid so that more poor Filipino children will benefit from this.
"Many of us are really thankful to the American people and their government, and without them I don't think the government would be able to undertake this huge task. We hope the USAID will extend its support to the many children like us who really wanted to study and someday help other kids too."
"I also pray that they give the schools more books and other education materials for the sake of those like us, and sustainable livelihood programs for our poor people," says 17-year old Meldy Briol, who dreams of becoming a journalist someday.
Late last year, over 3,300 out-of-school children also took the same tests in Basilan, Tawi-Tawi and Lanao del Sur provinces, all part of the Muslim autonomous region, the poorest in the Philippines.
Before they were given the tests, the out-of-school children undergo 9 months of specialized education and review classes to prepare them for the written examinations, Kamenza says.
She swears that teaching the children takes a lot of efforts and patience. "It is a tough job, but we love the children and treat them like our own. We are one big family here and there is only one goal and that is to bring them back to school and study again," she says.
Just like Said Buaya, who at the age of 60, still treks mountains in Maguindanao and in North Cotabato to bring non-formal education to many people both young and old.
"Learning is a constant process, it never stops and that's what drives me to bring education to as far as those mountains you see up ahead," he says, pointing to an area where once the fortified headquarters of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front were located, the Camp Abubakar as Siddique, was located.
The rebel base was gone, but the place is now home to thousands of poor Muslims who have no access to education. And for Said, who works for the Department of Education, teaching his people to read and write was a promise he made when he was still a boy.
"I don't think of anything anymore, but to help the others while I still can. And my wish now is that more people will benefit from all the humanitarian projects America is giving us," he says.
Washington has pledged to help more in various humanitarian and education programs in Mindanao.
USAID will also support the setting up of apprenticeship programs in the poorest, school-less and conflict-affected areas in the Muslim autonomous region to help out-of-school youth improve their chances for future employment while earning education credits comparable to formal elementary and secondary education under the Department of Education’s Non-Formal Education Accreditation and Equivalency system.
Just last week, Dr. Thomas, chief officer of the Education office of the USAID-Philippines, inspected the Broce Central Elementary School in Datu Odin Sinsuat in Maguindanao and has promised to provide more assistance to the Muslim autonomous region, where his group is funding various trainings for teachers.
"We are so glad to see the teachers are happy about the training and we promised that there will be more training in various programs under the EQuALLS project," Kral says.
Kral also inspected different classrooms and said he will work to provide more assistance to the school. Many teachers have complained the school has no library and lack readings materials and appealed to Kral for donations.
The USAID earlier provided the school with books and other materials for the repair of many dilapidated rooms.
Lorina Aquino, program director of the Creative Associates International Inc., which is helping USAID humanitarian projects in the Philippines, said the training program would benefit about 3,000 teachers. "And this is just the start of many more trainings to come under the USAID programs," she says.
EQuALLS have already trained about more than 100 teachers in the Muslim autonomous region and 90 more in the Zamboanga Peninsula.
On Friday, Kral also led the launching of the Education and Livelihood Skills Alliance (ELSA), In-School Youth Engagement Program to help train Filipino high school students and inspire them to become responsible community leaders.
ELSA, founded in 2004, is a three-year multi-stakeholder partnership that seeks to create and expand school and community-based learning and job training programs for young people in Mindanao, especially in the Muslim autonomous region and other conflict-affected areas in the Zamboanga Peninsula.
It also has programs in the provinces of North and South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, and Sarangani and in the cities of Zamboanga, Cotabato, Marawi and General Santos, Aquino said.
ELSA is an alliance of international and Philippine Non-governmental organizations, foundations, and education institutions, including the International Youth Foundation, the Ayala Foundation, the Consuelo Foundation, and Petron Foundation, Philippines Business for Social Progress and the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization- Regional Center for Innovation and Technology (SEAMEO-INNOTECH).
Its work is strengthened by funding assistance from the USAID also under the EQuALLS program.
This alliance seeks to create and expand school and community-based learning and employment opportunities. And to lower the high drop-out rate and raise school participation and completion rates. ELSA is also upgrading school infrastructure, mobilizing Parent Teacher Community Associations (PTCAs), strengthening Alternative Learning Systems, and providing opportunities for positive youth leadership engagement.
"We are helping this particular area of Mindanao because it is the area that is most in need and the area most subject to instability and by addressing the needs of children we are laying a strong foundation for the future of the children. The children's education really holds the key of the future of this part of the country," he says.
EQuALLS seeks to carry out targeted program with focus on Mindanao to address high illiteracy and drop-out rates, improve learning of math, science and the English language, particularly at the elementary level and address special problems of out-of-work youth in the conflict-affected areas.
USAID will also provide assistance in developing and producing a ten-part video series on livelihood and business development skills for screening in community and alternative learning centers.
New schools and alternative learning centers will receive books through the donated book program. A new educational TV video series will be developed this year on peace education to be shown in schools and alternative learning centers.
The American Foreign Policy Council-Asia Pacific Initiative began implementing a model schools project under its existing Development for Peace in Sulu project. Seven elementary and five high schools in the island are being established as model schools with increased involvement by parents, teachers, and the community. These schools will have the potential to serve as teacher training and vocational training centers.
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