DepEd kicks off Brigada Eskwela today

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Education (DepEd) officially starts the 2023 Brigada Eskwela (BE) classroom preparation campaign today, which will continue until Aug. 19 to give time for the repair and cleanup of classrooms before the opening of classes later this month.

For this year’s Brigada, the DepEd said it would no longer hold contests for Best Implementing School Awards, Hall of Fame Awards and Brigada Plus at the national level to completely prevent the schools, school heads, teachers and other personnel from soliciting contributions for the conduct of BE activities.

“We make the BE simpler for everyone. It is just making our schools functional, clean and orderly, inside and outside classrooms, and within school sites,” Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte said during the BE’s national kickoff at Tarlac National High School in Tarlac City last Aug. 7.

Schools, districts and divisions, however, may still give recognition to partners and stakeholders that participated in the Brigada, the DepEd clarified.

Meanwhile, environmental group EcoWaste Coalition has urged all sectors that will participate in the BE to aim for a zero waste and toxics-free school cleanup and renovation activities.

The group specifically reminded participants not to mix and burn trash, break busted fluorescent lamps and disturb painted surfaces, which may be coated with lead-containing paints.

Instead, the EcoWaste said, participants, especially the school administrators, teachers, parents, students, non-teaching personnel and volunteers must observe the proper segregation of discards at source to facilitate their reuse, recycling or composting and to minimize the volume of garbage for disposal.

The Office of the Vice President (OVP) has also extended its support to DepEd through the participation of its 10 satellite offices located in Dagupan, Isabela, Region V, Cebu, Bacolod, Tacloban, Davao, Surigao, Zamboanga and the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).

The OVP said it will specifically participate in the Brigada Eskwela in East Central Integrated School in Dagupan, Cauayan South Central School in Isabela, Gogon Central Elementary School in Legazpi, Labangon Elementary School in Cebu, St. Francis Elementary School in Tacloban, Victoria Elementary School in Surigao, and Salum Elementary School in Zamboanga.

The OVP Satellite Office in Davao will also assist with classroom preparations at the Governor Vicente Duterte National High School on Aug. 15, while the OVP BARMM will extend help at the Barangay Pagalamatan Elementary School on Aug. 17.

The OVP will also conduct a tree-planting activity in selected schools nationwide as part of its “Pagbabago: A Million Learners and Trees Campaign.”