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Ms. Sayeed (standing, rightmost) observes an elementary class during her visit to the Islamic Institute of the Philippines, a madaris in Zamboanga City. With her are (standing, L-R) Ima Versoza and Padma Shetty of USAID Philippines. |
USAID showcased its book center in Zamboanga City and its education assistance to madaris (Islamic schools) in areas most affected by conflict and poverty in Mindanao to its Washington Office Middle East Bureau Senior Culture and Development Advisor Afeefa Sayeed on January 19, 2010. Ms. Sayeed checked out at the book center the supplementary English, science, and math books donated by the US-based Brother’s Brother Foundation, which USAID, through its Education Quality and Access for Learning and Livelihood Skills (EQuALLS2) project, distributes to public elementary schools and madaris using the project’s innovative needs-based book shopping approach. She also visited in the same city an elementary class at the Islamic Institute of the Philippines, a madaris that EQuALLS2 has oriented on the Standard Madrasah Curriculum of the Philippine Department of Education (DepED) to help it align its curriculum with the national standard, and that the project has trained on Madrasah improvement planning. Through EQuALLS2, USAID is helping DepED improve the quality of education in 22 madaris in Mindanao through the provision of supplementary books and reference materials, training of teachers and school administrators, and classroom construction and repair.
