At least 1,178 teaching and non-teaching personnel in 63 villages of North Cotabato that joined the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) received their first salaries on Tuesday.

Minister Mohagher Iqbal of the Ministry of Basic, Higher and Technical Education (MBHTE) handed over the checks to the teachers from BARMM’s Special Geographic Area (SGA) in North Cotabato during ceremonies held at the BARMM center here.

“The SGA teachers work at public elementary and secondary schools in the villages,” he told reporters here during an interview Wednesday.

The SGA is composed of 63 barangays from North Cotabato province that opted for inclusion in BARMM during the Bangsamoro Organic Law plebiscite in February 2019.

Of the 1,178 personnel, 1,034 were elementary teachers from the Aleosan schools district, Carmen, Kabacan, Midsayap, Pigcawayan, and Pikit; the 144 others are secondary level instructors.

Meanwhile, Iqbal said that the MBHTE is also currently working on establishing a division office and selecting personnel to oversee the schools under the SGA in North Cotabato.

“Rest assured that the plans and projects we have for other schools divisions will also be equally implemented and executed in these 63 barangays,” he said. (PNA)