Pushing knowledge forward

Nine years of TulaKaalaman and Byaheng Kaalaman — Dr. Sadat B. Minandang and the children of Mindanao that school could not reach.

TulaKaalaman: one wooden cart, pushed to where the children are

Tulak — to push forward. Kaalaman — knowledge. A teacher at Amirol Elementary School began wheeling literacy, numeracy, hygiene and a hot meal into settlements no school bus reaches. Children who had stopped coming to school, came back.

The cart parks on the embankment and class begins — reading, numeracy and a flag ceremony, on mats, by the river.

Four advocacies from day one:

• literacy & numeracy
• WASH
• child protection
• community feeding

Byaheng Kaalaman — knowledge that travels

In 2020 the Princess Maha Chakri Award Foundation funded the cart's next life: a motorised unit that could travel further and carry more. Then the pandemic closed every school in the region. Byaheng Kaalaman became the lifeline — learning modules, hygiene kits and meals delivered door to door, with the same four advocacies intact.

Attendance at Lugay-Lugay Central School rose from 72% to 98%.

ACTION RESEARCH, PANTAO INTL. JOURNAL, 2025 2020: masked, module by module, house by house.

A learning kit, handed over at the window. 600 learners supported through the closures. Feeding and child protection, every stop.

VERSION 3 - 2026 - PHASE 3

Enhanced Byaheng Kaalaman: four wheels, five communities

The Phase 3 unit, 2026. Phase 3 runs on a four-wheeled mobile learning unit reaching 250 identified children across five communities, funded by a private Thai donor. Materials, meals, follow-up. 3,000+ learners served since 2017

Princess Maha Chakri Award, 2019 — Top 50 Global Teacher Prize, 2023

Recognised by DepEd and MBHTE-BARMM as an official Alternative Delivery Mode for last-mile education.

PANTAO International Journal, 2025 — The Power of Passionate Teaching — SEAMEO regional best practice

Dr. Sadat B. Minandang — Principal, Lugay-Lugay Central School, Cotabato City, BARMM

Princess Maha Chakri Awardee 2019 — Report to the Princess Maha Chakri Award Foundation, Bangkok

Five communities, one circle. 98% school attendance at Lugay-Lugay, up from 72%