MCC, MCA-P support education as long-term poverty solution

MANILA, Philippines - Millennium Challenge Account-Philippines (MCA-P) is taking initiatives to partner with private companies and non-government organizations to help upgrade the quality of education in the country as a long-term solution to the problem of poverty, especially in poor communities in the provinces.

The accountable entity that manages a $434-million grant from the United States Government’s Millennium Challenge Corp. (MCC), MCA-P supervised the construction of 204 school buildings and 105 day care centers in poor communities in Luzon and the Visayas from 2011 to April 2014 through MCC funding. Additional 176 school buildings are still being built while 76 more day care centers are under construction.

MCC has a $120-million grant to fund community infrastructure sub-projects through the Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan – Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (KALAHI-CIDSS) Project of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD). KALAHI-CIDSS is a community-driven development project where communities and their LGU  counterparts are trained to assess their situation, identify the appropriate response, plan and implement their own sub-projects that address their most pressing need in a participatory, transparent and accountable manner.

Marivic Añonuevo, MCA-P managing director and chief executive officer, said MCA-P is taking one step further to ensure sustainability of the benefits generated by the communities from the MCC-funded physical infrastructure.

“When it comes to priorities among Filipinos, education is on top of the list,” Añonuevo said. “MCC and MCA-P recognize this and we fully support our communities because we firmly believe that education is the long-term solution to the problem of poverty in the Philippines or elsewhere.”

She said MCA-P has partnered with Synergeia Foundation, Inc. for an Education Support Program that aims to improve the quality of basic education in MCC-supported areas. Synergeia is a coalition of individuals, institutions, and organizations working towards improving the quality of basic education in the Philippines.

Pilot area in this undertaking, in cooperation with the Department of Education, is the municipality of Bongabong in Oriental Mindoro, where MCC has invested about P21 million in various community infrastructure projects.

Under the partnership, MCA-P and Synergeia are training their sights at expanding and strengthening the role of the Local School Board of Bongabong in implementing programs and projects that will upgrade the quality of basic education in the municipality. This will be done by engaging the LGU, socio-civic groups, principals, teachers, parents, and students to work together and support education-related activities.

MCA-P is likewise aiding in early childhood development among day care children, aged 3 to 4 years old.

In Learn N’ Play for Progress-Philippines, MCA-P and Felta Multi-Media, Inc., with the support of Lego Foundation, have donated 81 Charity Boxes of Lego blocks to as many day care centers in Bicol, Western Visayas, Central Visayas, and Eastern Visayas.

The donation came with a series of trainings for day care center teachers on the proper use of the Lego blocks as educational tools to promote the development of motor, cognitive, and inter-personal skills of day care children.

The project is supported by the regional offices of DSWD and the local government units of the community-beneficiaries.

In the implementation of the MCC KALAHI-CIDSS Project, school buildings and day care centers accounted for 56 percent of basic social services sub-projects prioritized from 2011 to April 2014. It also represents a hefty 24 percent share of the total sub-projects during the period.

In terms of total project cost, school buildings and day care centers amounted to over P572 million, of which about P446 million came from MCC while the balance was in the form of counterpart funds from local government units and the communities.

These KALAHI-CIDSS sub-projects are located in six regions where MCC is present: the Cordillera Autonomous Region, MIMAROPA, Bicol, Western Visayas, Central Visayas, and Eastern Visayas.

Central Visayas had the highest number of completed school buildings, with 52, closely followed by Eastern Visayas, which suffered immensely from super typhoon Yolanda/Haiyan in November last year, with 50 completed school buildings. During the super typhoon, some of these school buildings were used as evacuation centers and temporary shelters by the affected residents.

In Western Visayas, 27 school buildings have been completed and are now being used while another 63 are still under construction.

MIMAROPA (Region IV-B) and Bicol (Region V) each had 33 completed school buildings as of April 2014. The least number of school building sub-projects was reported in CAR with only seven completed school buildings and three awaiting completion. In the Cordilleras, basic access infrastructure such as roads and foot bridges were top priorities among the communities.