Officers and staff of Synergeia Foundation on Aug. 18 bid farewell to outgoing USAID Office of Education chief Thomas Crehan, who served as a close partner in the Foundation’s work in pursuing educational reforms in strife-torn areas in Muslim Mindanao.
During simple ceremonies in Makati City, Synergeia President and Chief Executive Officer Milwida Guevara thanked Mr. Crehan for his unwavering support for Synergeia and its achievements as one of the implementing partners of the Education Quality and Access for Learning and Livelihood Skills (EQuALLS2) Project.
“Thank you very much for the leadership you gave EQuALLS2. I think I speak for all the partners in saying that to us you are a great inspiration,” Ms. Guevara said, adding that the outgoing USAID official has provided the organization much-needed boost throughout program implementation.
The EQuALLS2 is a project of the Department of Education (DepED) ad the US Agency for International Development (USAID), which aims to provide increased learning opportunities for elementary school children in select areas in Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). It carries out activities that address high drop out rates and improve basic literacy.
The USAID-funded program also promotes capacity building among teachers, school administrators, and local government officials in select areas in the ARMM region, and provides vocational training as part of its workforce development program for out-of-school youth in beneficiary-communities.
Thus far, the EQuALLS2 program has benefitted almost 500,000 students in Mindanao, provided more than a million textbooks and other learning materials, given almost 80,000 out-of-school youths basic literacy classes and TESDA courses, repaired 223 classrooms, refurbished 342 community learning centers, supported 1,250 parent-teacher associations or similar governance structures, and trained 1,247 school administrators and officials.
Crehan said Synergeia was instrumental in the successful implementation of the EQuALLS2 program.
“I personally believe that the EQuALLS program is allowing young people to do something that they want to do – they just didn’t have the opportunity to do it… It’s a great program. It helps people who need help,” Crehan said. “I’ve been part of a very great program here and it’s very hard to leave it.”
Crehan also noted that much of the program’s success was due to the active participation and the high level of ownership that beneficiary-communities have demonstrated in the project.
“They could just sit at home, it’s easier to do nothing. But because we are able to give them that opportunity, they’re taking it,” Crahan said.
