Friday, November 30, 2007 US pours P2.1B in Mindanao for education project
ESPERANZA, Sultan Kudarat -- Education of out-of-school youths in Mindanao is getting a boost with a $50 million or about P2.1 billion assistance from the United States Agency for International Development, an American education specialist said here last week.
The fund, benefiting 12 provinces, will be spread out in five years after the program dubbed as the "Education Quality and Access for Learning and Livelihood Skills (Equalls)" was extended for another phase.
Philip Purnell, Equalls program specialist, said the program targets to benefit some 100,000 out-of-school youths through the establishment of community learning centers.
"These learning centers will also serve the youths who never had the chance to go to school [due to extreme poverty," he told said.
Hundreds of young people welcomed Purnell when he formally turned over two community learning centers in two different sites of this impoverished town blessed with fertile agricultural lands.
He implored the youths to take advantage of the learning centers so their quality of life will improve.
"With a wonderful location such as rice paddies and surrounding mountains, may the community learning centers inspire your thoughts in forming ideas that will help you achieve your dreams and hopes," Purnell told the beneficiaries.
Aside from offering basic knowledge in different fields of studies like math, science and English, the program provides livelihood skills training to the youth as well as trainings for teachers.
Purnell said youth beneficiaries will be given equivalency tests to determine if they will qualify for college education. Target beneficiaries are those between 12 to 25 years old.
USAid is running the program here in partnership with the Champagnat Community College, the community extension arm of the Notre Dame of Marbel University based in Koronadal City.
Noemi Silva, Notre Dame vice president for academic affairs, assured the school's continued support to the project as it enables out-of-school youths access to education.
The second phase of Equalls kicked off several months ago and targets to establish thousands of community learning centers until 2011.
Covered provinces are Zamboanga del Sur, Zamboanga del Norte and Zamboanga Sibugay in Central Mindanao and South and North Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat and Sarangani in Southwestern Mindanao.
At least five provinces in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao -- Maguindanao, Shariff Kabunsuan, Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi -- are also included in the program.
A briefer said the United States Peace Corps in the Philippines also participates in the Equalls project through the Tudlo Mindanao (Teach Mindanao) program, which trains elementary and high school teachers in English and Information and Communications Technology as well as provides capacity strengthening for parents-teachers community associations.
By joining with private sector alliances, the US government pools not only their financial resources, but their creativity, energy and expertise, it added. (BSS)
