P4.76B in resources pooled for Brigada Eskwela

Blessie Fabricante, 5 years old, incoming grade 1 student, joins Brigada Eskwela and help clean a classroom in Kamuning Elementary School on Monday, May 30, 2016.
INQUIRER PHOTO / GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE

MANILA — The Department of Education (DepEd) said on Sunday, it has generated P4.76 billion worth of resources from this year’s Brigada Eskwela, a 31.5-percent jump from the figures recorded in 2015.

It also reported that the annual cleanup and maintenance activity in 2016 drew more than 11.6 million volunteers, who gave their time and effort in preparing the more than 46,000 public schools nationwide for the opening of classes in June.

“This is an upward pull of 31.8 percent compared to the year 2015’s 8.871 million [volunteers],” said DepEd External Partnerships Services director Margarita Ballesteros during the 2016 National Brigada Eskwela Awards held in Dumaguete City last week.

Ballesteros disclosed that the agency received a total of P4,763,949,535.83 from infrastructure works, donations and volunteer man-hours, which represented a huge increase from last year’s P3,622,540,636.64.

Lauding the improved turnout of the DepEd’s annual project this year, Education Secretary Leonor Briones said the figures proved once again that making quality basic education accessible to all Filipinos has always been the responsibility of the entire community.

“Education is everybody’s business,” said Briones in her speech at the awarding ceremony held at Silliman University on Friday.

“We are responsible for the kind of education we share with our learners, the kind of citizens we mold. This is not only the responsibility of the DepEd. It is all our responsibility,” she stressed.  SFM