Education Secretary Sonny Angara recently visited the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to request their assistance in supporting the transition of Sulu from BARMM back to the supervision of the Department of Education (DepEd) after the Supreme Court declared that the province is no longer part of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

DepEd and UNICEF also discussed the joint education interventions and aligned efforts under DepEd’s strategic plans: the Five-Point Agenda and the Basic Education Development Plan 2030, which will focus on improving early childhood education, foundational academic skills, and out-of-school youth support.

The DepEd chief also enjoined UNICEF to roll out new technologies and digital solutions to schools and field offices, specifically on teacher assessments and data-driven analytics.

UNICEF also emphasized the importance of mapping the school’s connectivity to the Giga initiative to determine which schools in the Philippines do not have internet connectivity.

The agency underscored that connectivity is essential for DepEd to ensure learning continuity in the context of calamities and emergencies.