Two decades and three years ago, ARMM came into existence on the promise of addressing the aspirations of Bangsamoro to govern ourselves and to serve our own people. That promise remains to this day. Similarly, the Basic Education Assistance for Muslim Mindanao or BEAM-ARMM was conceived to contribute to the improvement of access to and quality of basic education in this part of the country. Will it meet the same fate? This is the challenge we all need to respond as we sign the Subsidiary Arrangement and launch the BEAM-ARMM Program.
This program came to fore because of the concerted efforts of government, donor, non-government and implementing partners; telling us that if we can work together, we are half-way to completion. We achieved a remarkable level of cooperation at the program design and development level. We expect each other to keep and raise the momentum of synergy.
Today, as we launch the BEAM-ARMM Program let us not forget for whom this program is really intended. For all the interventions and innovations we are putting in place to improve management and teaching competence, additional infrastructure and equipment support, and systems improvement, all of these boil down to one thing - ensuring school-aged children are able to access education services suited to their circumstances, stay in school, learning competently and completing their basic education. This is the heart of education reform in the ARMM.
For the last ten months, the current administration has undertaken and continues to undertake initiatives that will ensure (1) systems and processes are transparent, efficient, engaged with stakeholders and maximized technology and innovation, and (2) education personnel are performing according to established standards, motivated and ethically accountable. The future is not tomorrow, the future is already here inside the classroom. BEAM-ARMM is a tangible manifestation of our collective commitment to make the promise of better future for our children a reality.
We welcome our partners from AusAID, DepEd Central and other national government agencies; implementing partners of BEAM-ARMM, our ARMM colleagues and media friends. Welcome to the BEAM-ARMM launch. Welcome to DepEd-ARMM!
