On January 14, Philippine Secretary of Education Jesli Lapus and U.S. Ambassador Kristie Kenney shake hands after signing an agreement of the U.S. government’s commitment to help the Philippines achieve its education goals and to provide an $86 million U.S. government grant to finance the two countries’ five-year program to promote children’s access to quality education and improve the quality of teaching in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and in western and central Mindanao regions. Under the five-year program, 600 additional classrooms and 400 community learning centers will be built and, approximately, 200,000 teachers and principals will be given additional training. Three million books will be provided, and associations of parents and teachers will be strengthened. The program includes livelihood skills training for out-of-school youth, and computers for high schools.