In partnership with the Department of Education (DepEd) and National Commission for Indigenous Peoples (NCIP), Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) through the Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan-Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (Kalahi-CIDSS) will spearhead the Establishment of New Public Schools for Indigenous Peoples in Mindanao by September, 2016.
The School for Lumads project will be given to Indigenous Peoples in the pre-identified communities in Mindanao. The project specifically aims to improve access of indigenous communities in Mindanao to learning and development activities through the construction of classrooms by the Kalahi-CIDSS.

One of the 3 core programs of the department, Kalahi-CIDSS is a poverty alleviation project that uses the community-driven development (CDD) approach. The project aims to reduce poverty by empowering communities and promoting good governance, through provision of support for community projects and activities, and encouraging local government responsiveness to community-identified development projects.

The Establishment of New Public Schools for Indigenous Peoples in Mindanao project will be implemented in 18 barangays in 10 Municipalities in Region IX to include the barangays of Labuan, where the conduct of on-site validation started and the other one is in Rio Hondo in Zamboanga City, 5 barangays in Zamboanga del Norte, 6 in Zamboanga del Sur, and 5 in Zamboanga Sibugay as among the areas identified by DepEd for the said project.
The construction of 1-unit-classroom is expected to end by December 2016 with a budget allocation of more or less than Php800,000.00 per structure.###