TO strengthen and ensure smooth coordination with other government agencies, the Department of Education (DepEd) on Tuesday announced the creation of the Task Force Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao to Economic Recovery and Development.

“We want to ensure that we have a complete range of services for our learners in the autonomous region and we will do it in full cooperation with other government agencies,” Education Secretary Armin Luistro said, adding that he has appointed Undersecretaries Francisco Varela and Rizalino Rivera as co-chairs of the task force.

Luistro said task-force members were culled from the DepEd’s planning service, the bureaus of elementary and secondary education, finance and administration, as well as alternative learning systems.

Earlier, a national transition team was created by the government headed by the Department of the Interior and Local Government, in preparation for the appointment and installation of officers in charge in ARMM.

The transition team is composed of the DepEd, the Department of Health and the Department of Social Welfare and Development, which are the key government agencies identified with providing basic services.

The ARMM economic recovery and development initiative is also called “ARMM Mini Marshall Plan” and is aimed at addressing gaps in basic services for the next 21 months of transition.

One of the responsibilities of the DepEd task force is to facilitate and guide the conduct of rapid validation of education data in the ARMM, including the inventory of personnel and physical facilities in coordination with DepEd–ARMM. The activity is part of the thrust of the transition team to clean up data across all agencies to prepare the entire ARMM bureaucracy for the appointment of the OICs.