COTABATO CITY (May 29) — A sweeping audit and budget review by the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) has exposed a worsening education crisis in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), revealing massive fund utilization delays, alarming dropout rates, severe classroom shortages, and persistent governance failures inside the region’s education ministry.
The findings come days after BARMM education minister Mohagher Iqbal was removed from office following a Commission on Audit (COA) report flagging questionable disbursements within the Ministry of Basic, Higher, and Technical Education (MBHTE).
Despite receiving the largest allocation in the proposed P114-billion BARMM budget for 2026 — amounting to P26.49 billion — the MBHTE was found struggling to translate funding into actual delivery of services.
The BTA Committee on Finance, Budget, and Management reported that as of Aug. 31, 2025, the ministry posted only 75.21 percent allotment utilization, 47.81 percent obligation, and 44.04 percent disbursement rates, reflecting major delays in project implementation and spending.
Behind the budget figures lies a far deeper social crisis.
BARMM recorded a functional illiteracy rate of 38.3 percent — the highest in the country and significantly above the national average of 30.6 percent.
Teacher quality indicators were equally troubling. BARMM ranked 34th out of 39 regions nationwide in the Board Licensure Examination for Professional Teachers (BLEPT), underscoring long-standing weaknesses in teacher preparation and educational standards.
But perhaps the most alarming figure in the report was the college dropout rate.
According to the BTA findings, up to 90 percent of college students in BARMM fail to complete higher education — nearly triple the national average of 35.39 percent. Only 18.7 percent of college-age youth in the region are enrolled in higher education, the lowest participation rate in the country.
The report also exposed crippling personnel shortages and unresolved bureaucratic transitions dating back to the defunct Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).
At least 9,599 positions remain vacant, while 36,773 ARMM-era plantilla items have yet to be formally migrated into the BARMM structure. In Sulu alone, more than 3,000 teachers and staff are reportedly at risk due to unresolved employment issues.
Infrastructure development also remains severely uneven.
Of 2,289 classroom construction projects, only 1,330 have been completed, while many projects funded under the General Appropriations Act and Special Development Fund remain stalled in procurement or have yet to begin.
Delays were attributed to land disputes, unstable security conditions, weak coordination, and complications arising from national devolution policies.
Meanwhile, shortages in basic school resources continue to burden learners across the region.
The report showed that:
- 277,817 learners still lack textbooks;
- 567,946 armchairs are needed for the coming school year; and
- 757,379 students have yet to receive learners’ kits.
