19 November 2013 – Education Secretary Armin A. Luistro, F.S.C., who was in Doha to attend the World Summit for Innovation in Education from October 29 to 31, had a meeting with the core leaders of the Filipino community in Qatar on  October 30 at the Philippine Embassy. 

Secretary Luistro encouraged the leaders to support the Department of Education’s (DepEd’s) “Pedals and Paddles Project: Bayanihang Bangka at Bisikleta,” a program for the underprivileged public school students.  The initiative aims to provide transportation (bicycles and boats) to students who live in isolated areas without an effective transport system.

The Secretary proposed that the leaders promote the program to the whole Filipino community in Qatar so that they can raise a substantial sum for the benefit of the program benificiaries

Secretary Luistro also requested the leaders to identify and organize Filipinos in Qatar who are not high school graduates, so that DepEd could design a program for the completion of their high school education. 

The Filipino community leaders, for their part, pledged to the Secretary’s requests.  They promised to get in touch with DepEd through the Embassy after designing their strategies in promoting the said programs. END