COTABATO CITY — Several Bangsamoro lawmakers proposed to recognize and incentivize Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) that offer agriculture, fisheries, forestry, and natural resources academic degree programs.
BTA Bill No. 184 or the Bangsamoro Education Incentive Act covers all HEI or the colleges and universities in the Bangsamoro region administered and regulated by the Ministry of Basic, Higher, and Technical Education.
HEIs that demonstrate excellence and make significant contributions to the regional agriculture sector are rewarded with financial rewards, infrastructure projects, faculty and research grants, and government-academe partnerships are bolstered to ensure that agricultural education is aligned with the Bangsamoro Government’s agricultural policies.
A Bangsamoro Agricultural Education Council will also be established as a policy-making and advisory body that will ensure the proper implementation of the Program.
Covered HEls will be evaluated to see if they meet or exceed the criteria set forth by the Council, including licensing examinations performance, research, knowledge productivity, innovations and science productivity, and sustainable agriculture initiatives.
A scoring and ranking system will be instituted to rate the performance of the qualified HEIs. However, MBHTE will only rank the top five (5) best-performing schools, and only the HEIs that have complied or satisfied the criteria will be granted with the incentives under the proposed measure.
The incentives to be granted to qualified HEIs may be utilized for faculty and research grants; construction or repair of research laboratories, classrooms, centers, and other facilities to be used for academic purposes; agricultural machinery and technology, including tools and implements; community outreach/extension activities for agri-fisheries; and development projects supporting the environment, climate change adaptation, and halal food industry.
AFNR degree programs are academic degree programs, baccalaureate or ladderized, offered by HEIs that correspond to the requirements licensed by the Professional Regulation Commission for professions such as Agriculture; Agricultural Engineering; Fisheries Technology; Food Technology; Foresters; Landscape Architecture; and Veterinary Medicine. (LTAIS- Public Information, Publication, and Media Relations Division)