The University of the Philippines (UP) and the Ministry of Basic, Higher, and Technical Education of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM-MBHTE) signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) and a memorandum of agreement (MOA) for educational cooperation, during a ceremony on June 14, 2022, at Quezon Hall, UP Diliman, Quezon City.
UP President Danilo Concepcion and MBHTE Director General for Basic Education Abdullah Salik Jr., representing Minister Mohagher Iqbal, signed both documents, with UP’s Ugnayan ng Pahinungod Director Marie Therese Bustos and MBHTE Director General for Madaris Education Tahir Nalg as witnesses.
Other BARMM-MBHTE and UP officials, along with members of the technical working group for the partnership and heads of the Ugnayan ng Pahinungod chapters in the UP constituent universities, attended the ceremony.
Under the MOU, UP and the MBHTE agree to develop activities in mutual interest in academic and public service areas. These include the offering of graduate or certification extension programs, pre-service or in-service capacity-building for teachers, deployment of UP Gurong Pahinungod, establishing a Bangsamoro junior scientist program, enhancing a physical education and sports development program, research and capacity-building in food science and technology, exploring the possibility of establishing a tribal university, enriching Madaris education, strengthening the culture of educational research, and the promotion and cultivation of the Bangsamoro history, culture, and artistic tradition.
The MOA primarily involves the Ugnayan ng Pahinungod for implementing a term of the MOU. UP volunteer teachers will assist the MBHTE in developing and implementing adaptive learning materials and other educational innovations.
“This signing is the culmination of months of discussions between Minister Iqbal and his team on the one hand, and the UP System, UP Diliman, and UP Mindanao officials and staff on the other,” Concepcion said. “I welcome this partnership as an opportunity to immerse ourselves in the culture and history of Bangsamoro.”
In his message delivered by BARMM Police Regional Appellate Chair Ysnaira Ibrahim, Iqbal said the BARMM is exploring ways to uplift its educational system and envisions producing at least one professional in every Bangsamoro family. “It is a heartfelt sense of assurance and affirmation having the UP System as the country’s national university to be alongside us to support our education reform initiative.”
