Bangsamoro Education Reform and Development Plan: Paving the Way for Inclusive and Equitable Education to Achieve SDG 4

UNESCO Bangkok and IIEP, in partnership with UNICEF and with the support of UNESCO Jakarta, facilitated the development of the Bangsamoro Education Reform and Development Plan (BERDP) 2020–2035, an initiative aimed at improving access to quality education in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).

UNESCO and UNICEF have been working closely with the Ministry of Basic, Higher, and Technical Education (MBHTE) since 2020 to develop the BERDP. Despite the disruptions and challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, UNESCO Bangkok maintained unwavering support through bi-weekly online meetings and a series of consultative workshops with representatives from all MBHTE sub-sectors. The plan was successfully launched on 6 December 2022 during MBHTE's first education summit in Davao City.

The BERDP is anchored on seven guiding principles: inclusivity, equity, rights-based, contextual, integrated, balanced, and moral governance. It outlines four overarching policy goals: access and participation, quality and relevance, governance, and equity.

The plan also seeks to ensure ethical governance at all levels of education and the systematic and gradual institutionalization of the Madaris educational system in the Bangsamoro region.

The plan reflects strategic directions of the government, as well as national and international education development agendas, focusing on the delivery of inclusive and equitable quality education for all. Most important, the plan forms an essential part of the endeavor towards a ‘united, enlightened, self-governing, peaceful, just, morally upright, and progressive’ Bangsamoro region.

During the BERDP launch, Nyi Nyi Thaung, Programme Specialist in the Section for Inclusive Quality Education (IQE) at UNESCO Bangkok, congratulated the MBHTE on achieving this important milestone. Mr Thuang also reiterated UNESCO’s continued support for the region, stating, ‘The BERDP synergizes efforts of the whole MBHTE, UNESCO, UNICEF and other partners over the past three years to expand and improve the education system in the Bangsamoro Region by 2035. Going forward, UNESCO stands ready to continue to support MBHTE in the implementation and monitoring of the BERDP.’