NEW SCHOOL YEAR PREP | A member of the Department of Public Works and Highways’ team on Monday conducts fogging in Flora A. Ylagan High School in Quezon City as the government starts school cleanup activities ahead of the opening of classes later this month. (Photo by LYN RILLON / Philippine Daily Inquirer)
TARLAC CITY, Tarlac, Philippines — Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte on Monday led the launching of “Brigada Eskwela” at the Tarlac National High School (TNHS), the oldest public high school in the country.
Brigada Eskwela, which runs from Aug. 14 to Aug. 19, is a volunteer program that helps public schools prepare for the opening of classes—which falls on Aug. 29 this year—with the help of stakeholders and partners of the Department of Education (DepEd).
“The Brigada Eskwela, or [nationwide] school’s maintenance week, is an appeal to the bayanihan spirit of every Filipino to help prepare our schools for the opening of classes,” Duterte said in a speech.
Data from the DepEd showed it received P44 million worth of donations from partners for public schools nationwide and about P1.6 million worth of donations for Tarlac National High School.
Duterte highlighted the program’s theme this year, “Bayanihan para sa matatag na paaralan (Community cooperation for stable schools),” noting that the department had made Brigada Eskwela “simpler.”
“As evident in the department order we issued, we simplified the program so everyone will understand easily how it works. It is just making our schools functional, clean, and orderly inside and outside the classrooms and within the school sites,” she said.
Duterte added: “It means we will remove all the clutter … the garbage that piled up inside classrooms and the schools.”
HANN Foundation Inc. (Swissôtel Clark, Marriot Hotel Clark, and HANN Casino), one of DepEd’s partners, is targeting to help Pampanga and Tarlac provinces build inclusive learning and resource centers, said Ronnel Golimlim, the foundation’s manager.
Golimlim said the Hann Foundation would give school supplies to Bamban schools and invest in the Alternative Learning System in Tarlac.
“We are continuously in contact with the DepEd Tarlac to find out how we could provide more inclusive, impact-driven, sustainable projects. Let us continue to support the DepEd in providing accessible quality education,” Golimlim said in a separate speech.
He added: “We are also inviting everyone to involve our employees with Brigada Eskwela so that it will not just be an ordinary activity as it should be a continuous program and engagement with our DepEd,” Golimlim said.
Tarlac Gov. Susan Yap lauded Duterte’s national learning recovery program and thanked DepEd for choosing TNHS as the host for the Brigada Eskwela kickoff program.
“VP Sara has launched the national learning recovery program, anchored on learning, remediation, and intervention, aiming to address learning loss caused by the pandemic,” Yap said during the launch.