POST-SIEGE INTERVENTIONS STEPPED UP IN MARAWI

COTABATO CITY: The Department of Education in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (DepEd-ARMM) has intensified its interventions for school children affected by the Marawi siege to ensure that they would go back to school. Dubbed Back-to-School and Stay-in-School (BTS/SIS), the program launched recently “is an inter-organization initiative for conflict-affected learners to ensure that they will go back to school, or access learning through the provision of basic education services, skills training and peacebuilding,” ARMM’s Education Secretary Rasol Mitmug Jr. said. “This program is part of the ARMM government’s response for the conflict-affected population in Marawi City and Lanao del Sur,” Mitmug added. There were 125,004 school children adversely affected by the Marawi siege when the terrorist Maute Group occupied the city over a year ago. The BTS/SIS is set to run from June this year to March 2019 in 18 towns in Lanao del Sur and Lanao del Norte, including Marawi City. DepEd-ARMM will partner with government agencies and 18 non-government organizations to implement the program. Cris Cayon of the United Nations Children’s Fund, a partner agency of the program, said the initiative needs support for other concerns to complement that of the education sector. Among these concerns are peace building in communities, peace education in schools, psycho-social support services for displaced children, livelihood support, and skills training. Alfhadar Pajiji, the region’s DepEd assistant secretary for special programs and projects, said the agency has constructed 47 temporary learning shelters in Marawi City. The DepEd-ARMM has also implemented catch-up education program for 2,363 kindergarten pupils in Marawi and neighboring towns. It has partnered with Gawad Kalinga for its regular feeding program and provision of a central kitchen. Two feeding centers are located in Marawi City and one in the town of Saguiran in Lanao del Sur.