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May 21, 2014
There is no other country that prepares for school opening the way the Philippines does. Its only in the
Philippines where close to seven million Filipinos actually volunteer to help clean schools, Department of
Education (DepEd) Secretary Br. Armin Luistro FSC said at the ceremonial opening of Brigada Eskwela in
Guimaras.
The education chief highlighted the important role of stakeholders in making Brigada Eskwela happen.
Brigada Eskwela is not about the cleanest school. It is not about the most organized campus. Its about the
whole community transcending differences and working together for the benefit of the Filipino learners,
Luistro added.
More than 600 volunteers camped out to help in cleaning, repairing, and making the school safer and
resilient for students in time for the school opening on June 2.
Getting our schools ready for the start of classes in June requires a lot of manpower. Every Filipino can
contribute in helping create clean and resilient learning environments for our learners, Luistro said.
Zero OSY
As part of boosting the program for out-of-school youth (OSY), DepEd rolled out the Abot-Alam program
in different areas in the country.
If we all work together not only in beautifying our schools, we can all dream that Guimaras can be the first
province in the country that will have zero out-of-school youth, said Luistro.
With the help of TESDA and partners in education, DepEd will develop alternative delivery modes for the
OSY to enable them to finish high school.
Luistro urged Guimaras to have a senior high school track that would boost their local industry.
DepEd will certainly provide the curriculum to develop the mango industry here, he said. He underscored
the need to provide the students the technical skills in order to grow the local economy and industry.
We need the whole community and stakeholders who are united towards that same mission, he said.
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Over the years, the Brigada Eskwela effort has evolved from a week-
long cleaning-up and beautification exercise to a festive coming
together of stakeholders in education: students, teachers, school
officials, parents, civil society, local government officials, religious
groups, and the private sector.
In an effort to bring the spirit of volunteerism to the community level
and maximize civil participation and utilize local resources to
improve public schools, the Department of Education launched
National Schools Maintenance Week in May. Every year, in the third
week of May, various stakeholders unite and work together to repair
and prepare public schools for the opening of classes.
According to RD San Antonio, DepEd regional director for
Calabarzon, Brigada Eskwela was established to maximize the
students time on their first week of classes.
Before, the first week of class was always allotted to cleaning the
classrooms, and we see that as a problem because we only have
200 days in a schoolyear. We wanted to make the most out of the
time, and Brigada Eskwela was deemed to be the solution, he
expressed.
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Brigada Eskwela enlivens the spirit of bayanihan, an innate Filipino
trait that espouses communal unity. Private institutions, individuals,
and even local government units contribute in generating resources
to pull off the effort. During the week-long event, volunteers take
time to do minor repairs, painting, organizing, and cleaning the
school vicinity.
It was obvious that Brigada Eskwela had gained significant
momentum over the years, as more and more volunteers join the
yearly activity. According to San Antonio, the participation rate has
been significantly increasing annually.
Asked about their expectations for this years drive, San Antonio said
they are expecting more people, even twice as much as last years,
and it is possible especially because a lot of people really want to
help and take part in the program.
As the Department of Education endeavors to solve many other
challenges plaguing Philippine education, there is Brigada Eskwela
that will remind us that when Filipinos unite, we can build better
together.