MANILA, Philippines - The Taguig City government is gearing-up for this year's school opening with a string of activities that started Monday and will end on Saturday.
Taguig Mayor Lani Cayetano said the activities are lined up in celebration of the 10th anniversary of “Brigada Eskwelaâ€, a volunteer program of the Department of Education (DepEd) aimed at ensuring the readiness of all public schools and educational facilities for the yearly opening of classes in June.
Cayetano encouraged all stakeholders to participate in this voluntary effort of teachers, parents and village officials to prepare the schools for the opening of classes.
"I urge everyone in the community to donate their spare time and effort for this laudable program. Our working together will ensure that our children will go to our schools, remain there and complete their education so that later they will become productive community members in Taguig," she said.
She added that the city government takes the Brigada Eskwela seriously, earning Taguig the award of “Best Implementor†of the program in the national level by the DepEd in 2011.
On Monday, some 3,000 volunteers composed of students, teachers and parents from the St. Francis of Assisi College repaired school chairs and tables at the Sta. Theresa Elementary School and at the Bagumbayan National High School.
Cayetano said public elementary schools in the city are expected to participate in the week-long program, which was institutionalized by the DepEd under DepEd Order No. 24 issued in 2008.
Last year, Brigada Eskwela gave importance to school sanitation and hygiene through the improvement of toilets and wash facilities.
The Taguig City government for this schoolyear will again distribute complete sets of ready-to-wear uniforms, bags and new pairs of shoes to public school students, from pre-school to high school starting this June. Students will also get free school supplies like pens, notebooks for all subjects, bags, pencil cases, and notepads.
The current administration has given top priority to the local education sector. Among others, Cayetano increased the budget for the city scholarship program from P100 million in 2011 to P200 million in 2012 and urther increased it to P300 million this year.