DepEd allocates P100 M for education of PH tribespeople

Education Secretary Armin Luistro

MANILA—The Department of Education said it has allotted P100 million this year to better prepare public schools to accommodate pupils from the country’s indigenous people.

A total of 100 provinces in 15 regions as well as the DepEd central office are entitled to the support fund, according to DepEd. Metro Manila and the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao were excluded from the support fund since they already have other funding sources.

Education Secretary Armin Luistro said the public school system has to improve its capacity to respond to the IP pupils’ learning needs “in a manner that is flexible, demand-driven and evidence-based.”

“This is part of our commitment to achieve the Education for All 2015 targets and the Millennium Development Goals set by the United Nations which we are duty bound to fulfill,” he said.

According to the guidelines issued by DepEd, the money should be used for the training of teachers, school administrators and DepEd personnel through workshops, conferences and actual school visits.

The support fund will also be tapped to build partnerships with other agencies, non-government organizations and advocates of IP education.

The funds should also go to establishing baseline data such as were the IP learners are, and situational analysis of issues related to IP education such as access and quality.

Luistro has said DepEd will promote an IP education program that will be responsive to their cultural context, respectful of their identity and supportive of the value of indigenous knowledge, skills and other aspects of their heritage.