REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, MANILA -- Indonesia and the Philippines signed a cooperation agreement to help develop each other's education sector. Under the agreement, Indonesia will help develop Islamic schools in southern Philippines, while the Philippines will assist Indonesia in developing vocational education in the country.

Indonesia will provide scholarships to Islamic school teachers in southern Mindanao to pursue higher education here. "So far, we have provided scholarships to 47 teachers from South Philippines, in addition to extending assistance to improve the Arabic language and information technology skills of teachers in southern Mindanao. We hope the quality of education in Islamic schools in southern Mindanao will improve," Head of the Planning and Foreign Cooperation Bureau at the Education and Culture Ministry, Ananto Kusuma Seta, said on Monday, February 9.

He also expressed hope that Islamic schools in the Philippines could learn from those in Indonesia, which highly respect pluralism. "This way, South Philippines will have new generations that respect pluralism and encourage peace in the region," Seta affirmed.

Furthermore, the Philippines agreed to help Indonesia improve the quality of its vocational schools. "We know that the Philippines excels in certain fields, including nursing, agriculture and tourism. We want vocational schools in Indonesia to cooperate with their Filipino counterparts to improve their quality, at least in these three sectors," he noted.

According to data, 17 vocational schools in Indonesia have established sister school cooperation with their Filipino counterparts. Seta pointed out that Indonesia and the Philippines also planned to issue joint curricula recognized in both nations.

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