US embassy cable - 05MANILA106

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MANILA 000106 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPT FOR EAP, EAP/PMBS, DRL, DRL/CRA, INR/EAP 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, PTER, SOCI, RP 
SUBJECT: MADRASAH TEACHER TRAINING PROJECT UNDERWAY IN THE 
PHILIPPINES 
 
REF: A. 04 MANILA 6122 
     B. 04 MANILA 5479 
     C. 04 STATE 193469 
     D. 04 MANILA 2188 
 
1.  (SBU) SUMMARY:  A $400,000 DRL-sponsored "Madrasah 
Teacher Training Project" is now underway in the Philippines 
to train 28 madrasah educators in U.S. educational practices 
and values.  Upon their return to the Philippines, they are 
expected to share what they learned via specified local 
projects and at a national "networking" conference.  The 
project appears worthwhile, though rather costly for the 
comparatively modest results sought.  Successful 
implementation of the project will assist in bringing the 
Philippines' Islamic educational system into the mainstream. 
Integrating this effort with other ongoing USG projects 
advancing this same goal will better ensure optimum use of 
USG resources.  The Mission's Education Committee will 
coordinate in identifying promising projects for funding in 
FY 2005 under the Human Rights and Democracy Fund.  END 
SUMMARY. 
 
New project 
----------- 
 
2.  (U) The DRL-sponsored "Madrasah Teacher Training Project" 
(Ref c) is now underway in the Philippines.  The USD 400,000 
project is funded by the ESF/Human Rights and Democracy Fund 
(HRDF) administered by DRL.  The Institute for Training and 
Development (ITD), a US-based non-profit NGO, serves as the 
project's implementing agency, and began the first phase in 
December 2004.  The project is focused on strengthening and 
improving the madrasah education system prevalent in Muslim 
areas of the southern Philippines.  Muslim educators will be 
exposed to U.S. educational practices and values during the 
course of the project.  An outline follows: 
 
-- Phase one:  ITD selects participants and builds support 
for the project among in-country partner organizations and 
international aid agencies; 
 
-- Phase two:  Twenty-eight leaders from madaris in Mindanao 
travel to the U.S. for a three-week study tour.  In the U.S., 
they attend presentations by university professors and other 
experts, and visit schools, religious organizations, and the 
Department of State and other government offices in 
Washington; 
 
-- Phase three:  The teachers apply what they have learned 
through programs in their schools and communities in the 
Philippines.  Support for these projects is provided in the 
form of "mini-grants" in the amount of USD 2,000 each.  The 
teachers will also share their experiences with other 
Filipino Muslim educators at a national "Educator Networking" 
conference. 
 
3.  (SBU) Poloff recently reviewed efforts to implement the 
project in meetings in Davao City, Mindanao.  Sally 
Habana-Hafner, Project Manager for ITD, confirmed to poloff 
that phase one of the project had begun and that selection of 
participants was underway.  At this meeting, Alastair 
Douglas, Deputy Project Director of AUSAID's Basic Education 
Assistance for Mindanao project (BEAM), also reviewed ways 
best to leverage the substantial efforts BEAM has invested in 
madrasah education in support of the current DRL project. 
 
4.  (SBU) Separately, members of the Association of Muslim 
Students at the University of the Philippines in Mindanao 
expressed support for the project as well as enthusiasm for 
combining secular education and Islamic values.  Ustadz 
Mahmod Adilao of the Ulama League of the Philippines 
commented that madaris offering a full range of religious and 
secular courses would be popular with Muslim students by 
helping them gain skills and find jobs.  (Ref B described the 
Philippine Department of Education's latest efforts to 
modernize the Islamic educational system by making it conform 
to national educational standards.) 
 
Other USG projects 
------------------ 
 
5.  (U) In the context of the State visits of President 
Arroyo and President Bush to each other's capitals in 2003, 
Mission had launched a 5-year USD 33 million education 
program focused primarily on Muslim Mindanao.  Led and 
administered by USAID, the program involves a range of USG 
agencies and local, U.S. and international NGO's.  The ITD 
project comes as a very welcome addition to the larger White 
House-based initiative in the Philippines.  To ensure maximum 
impact of our USD 400,000 investment through IDT, we will 
work to integrate that program with our ongoing educational 
campaign in Mindanao.  Our other projects to improve the 
level of education being offered in madaris include: 
 
-- The Mindanao English Language Education Enhancement 
Project (MELEEP), funded by the Public Affairs Section, 
trains English teacher trainers from the southern Philippines 
to teach more effectively.  As Ref b noted, English language 
is a key addition to the new unified madrasah curriculum; 
 
-- A senior English-language Fellow who speaks Arabic is 
working in the Department of Education on English teacher 
training, funded by the State Department's Bureau of 
Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA).  The focus of the 
training program is primarily in Mindanao; 
 
-- Assistance for the Comprehensive Educational Development 
of Mindanao (ASCEND Mindanao) trains and assists school 
administrators and ustadz from selected public schools and 
private madaris in the application of the improved curricula 
and materials.  The two-year project is funded by AID; 
 
-- Under the Tudlo Mindanao (Teach Mindanao) project, Peace 
Corps volunteers work with Mindanao teachers to develop and 
adapt teacher training sessions for English Content Based 
Instruction in math, science and information and 
communications technology. 
 
We advance all of these projects through our Country Team 
efforts, including advocacy with the national government, 
engagement with the ARMM and local government, vigorous 
public diplomacy (including student and teacher exchanges), 
and consciousness of the larger security environment, 
including the GRP-MILF peace process. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
6.  (SBU) Successful implementation of the IDT project will 
further assist in bringing the Philippines' Islamic 
educational system into the mainstream.  The project should 
yield good and valuable results.  However, at USD 400,000 for 
only 28 direct beneficiaries of a three-week U.S. tour plus a 
teacher conference, it comes in at the higher end of 
cost-to-benefit calculations compared to other USG programs 
now underway in Mindanao.  It is essential that such welcome 
projects be designed and implemented from the earliest stages 
in the closest coordination with current efforts to ensure 
the most effective use of USG resources.  For the 2005 HRDF, 
the Mission's interagency Education Committee -- with 
representation from USAID, Peace Corps, Public Affairs, and 
the Political Section -- will identify promising projects in 
country that fill identified gaps in current USG assistance, 
in close consultation with Department's DRL. 
Ricciardone