THE MBHTE hearing Wednesday, (MBHTE FB)
The prolonged non-appointment of about 30,000 teachers in the Ministry of Basic, Higher, and Technical Education during the time of Minister Mohagher Iqbal were uncovered during a hearing of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority on Wednesday, June 17.
The hearing by the Committee on Basic, Higher, and Technical Education, chaired by Minister of Parliament Dr. Tomanda Antok, and the Committee on Finance, Budget, and Management, headed by MP Atty. Kitem Kadatuan Jr., looked at reports that teaching positions were sold for as much as P300,000 each.
This practice, they said, contributed to more than 10,000 plantilla positions remaining vacant despite increasing student enrolment in the Bangsamoro region.
The hearing aired online also revealed that some 30,000 teachers and administrative personnel in the region have remained without permanent appointment for years. This left thousands of education workers in prolonged employment uncertainty, lawmakers said.
They asked why appointments had remained pending despite repeated discussions in previous oversight hearings. These delays have disrupted personnel management and affected the efficient delivery of education services, they added.
Other issues discussed during the marathon deliberations were delayed and unremitted Government Service Insurance System contributions for teachers, a seven-year delay in transferring personnel from the old Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao structure to the Bangsamoro bureaucracy through the migration of plantilla items from the national Department of Budget and Management to the regional Ministry of Finance, Budget and Management, and instances of two individuals allegedly receiving salaries under a single plantilla item.
Lawmakers said they are taking the findings of the Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM II) seriously, emphasizing the need for concrete interventions and corresponding budgetary support to improve education outcomes in the region.
The EDCOM II report identified several priority areas requiring sustained intervention, including nutrition, early childhood care and development, learning recovery, and foundational literacy.
It reported that BARMM recorded a 34.3 percent stunting rate, 16.9 percent anemia prevalence, and 48.2 percent household food insecurity, factors that directly affect children's readiness and ability to learn.
The MBHTE presented its ongoing interventions, including the “Bawat Bata sa Bangsamoro ay Bumabasa at Bumibilang” (5Bs) program, a literacy and numeracy recovery initiative that aims to improve foundational learning outcomes through a comprehensive, system-wide approach.