In 2018, after decades of conflicts,peace negotiations finally concluded with the creation ofthe Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM),recently approved through the 2019 Bangsamoro autonomyplebiscite, which is envisioned to have greater autonomy,more resources, and larger territory than its predecessor.BARMM has faced serious challenges in both access andquality of basic education even while the Philippines as awhole has made remarkable progress in the basic educationreform over past decades. In BARMM, only 1 out of every 10students who began primary education completes junior highschool (JHS) on time. Out-of-school youth and adults (OSYA)have thus accumulated over the generations. The share ofOSYA in BARMM is double the national average. The figurespoint to a crisis in the delivery of basic education in theBARMM area – a crisis which needs to be addressed as a firstpriority to keep children in school and to provide betterquality education to them. Complementary to the efforts inprovide quality education for Filipino children, theAlternative Learning System (ALS) has been operated by theDepartment of Education (DepEd) offering second-chancelearning programs for the past few decades throughout thecountry for OSYA who have limited skills and bleakemployment prospects. The World Bank has undertaken a seriesof evaluations of ALS with the DepEd since 2013. Thefindings show significant and positive impacts on labormarket outcomes among ALS learners who could pass theaccreditation and equivalency (A&E) exam. The previousevaluations of ALS have not to date covered the BARMM area.This study fills that gap and aims to provide the new BARMMgovernment essential evidence based on new data fordesigning and undertaking reform interventions to improvethe program delivery for its beneficiaries.
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