KORONADAL CITY, Philippines – The United States Agency for International Development (USAID), in cooperation with the Department of Education (DepEd) and National Bookstore Foundation, will distribute 48,000 dictionaries in three regions in Mindanao, officials said.
Tom Crehan, USAID chief in the country, told The STAR that these dictionaries will be given out to 6,000 public elementary schools and community learning centers in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) and Regions 9 (Zamboanga Peninsula) and 12 (Central Mindanao).
Crehan bared this as he presided over the distribution of 692 dictionaries to the pupils of the Quevedo Baptista Elementary School in the village of Blingkong in Lutayan, Sultan Kudarat last Friday, which incidentally was World Dictionary Day.
Crehan was assisted by DepEd Central Mindanao regional director Luz Almeda and National Bookstore Foundation project coordinator Bea Torres in the event.
“Thousands more of dictionaries will be distributed in various parts of Central Mindanao and two other regions. It’s our way of helping improve the learning of schoolchildren in Mindanao,” Crehan said. – Ramil Bajo