DepEd's Brigada Eskwela launched in Consolacion

This month until June, public schools in the region will be preoccupied with the task of repairing and rehabilitating their schools through the Brigada Eskwela (Bayanihan Para sa Paaralan) Program of the Department of Education.

The DepEd project started a few years ago as one of its programs to help resolve problems on the repair and rehabilitation of school buildings and facilities with the help of the community.

In its launching yesterday at the Consolacion National High School, members of the Parents-Teachers Community Association and other volunteers including the local government of Consolacion joined hands for the rehabilitation of their school in preparation for the opening of classes in June.

DepEd Undersecretary Ramon Bacani said that there are around 30,000 public schools nationwide out of a total of 42,000 or at least 75 percent, who have joined the said project. Bacani said that they are expecting 100 percent participation from other schools next year.

"We therefore invite everyone to join us in preparing our schools for the June 5 opening of classes through this year's Brigada Eskwela. This is an opportunity for us to show our children the value of helping one another and give them a sense of community in action. Our participation here shows our concern for the education of our children," he said.

Brigada Eskwela encourages volunteers to provide whatever they can such as paint, cement, lumber and other materials, which could be used for minor repairs. These are given voluntarily by the parents, the community, local government and friends as their goodwill to schools. Donations must come in kind and no direct monetary donations are allowed.

Last year's Brigada Eskwela, held from May 16 through 21, was able to mobilize a total of 26,034 public schools or 61 percent of all public schools nationwide. An estimated 2,008,628 volunteer man-days worth P572.49 million was generated by participating schools, and an estimated P455.43 million worth of donations-in-kind were gathered, as donated by communities and local governments in the form of paint, cement, plywood, hollow blocks and the like. - Jasmin R. Uy