By Sarwell Meniano and Ronald Reyes/Philippine News Agency
TACLOBAN CITY — The Department of Education (DepEd) in Eastern Visayas kicked off the week-long regional school preparation activities on Monday in Limasawa, Southern Leyte, mobilizing all education stakeholders to help ensure a smooth opening of the new academic year.
Key officials from the DepEd regional office and 13 schools’ divisions in the region joined the Brigada Eskwela kick-off in six different campuses in the historic island town after the ceremony at Triana Elementary School.
“In the entire region, we expect support from thousands of stakeholders from government agencies and private sector to address the basic needs of our learners,” DepEd regional information officer Jasmin Calzita said in a phone interview Monday.
In a directive, DepEd Regional Director Ramir Uytico asked school officials to hold their respective Brigada Eskwela kick-offs in a public elementary or secondary school.
Last year, the region had more than one million learners in enrolled in 4,561 state-run schools of six provinces.
“The main objective of this activity is to help prepare the schools for the opening of classes in June. Further, it is intended to involve the stakeholders in the school’s maintenance efforts,” Uytico said in a statement.
In Leyte province, simultaneous kick-off activities were held in the towns of San Miguel, Barugo, La Paz, Villaba, Palompon, Abuyog, and Matalom.
Joy Olarte, Alternative Learning System (ALS) coordinator from Javier, thanked the parents and other stakeholders who attended the opening program in their area.
“Any form of help given to ALS greatly motivates the students to go to school and for the teachers to be inspired in their job,” Olarte said.
“As DepEd endeavors to solve many challenges in Basic Philippine Education, Brigada Eskwela will serve as one of the department’s frontline initiatives to remind each and every Filipino that we are all stakeholders in education,” added Socorro Ausa, Leyte education program supervisor.
The Brigada Eskwela, which runs from May 20 to 25, is anchored on the theme “Matatag na Bayan para sa Maunlad na Paaralan.”
Uytico urged individuals or groups interested to help the schools and volunteers to coordinate with education support services division of the regional office, social mobilization, and networking section under the schools’ governance and operations division in schools’ division offices, or the school principal of the beneficiary school, for guidance.
All DepEd employees are encouraged to join the 2019 Brigada Eskwela activities by volunteering their skills, sharing their time or providing in-kind support to public schools near their residence.
The annual Brigada Eskwela is the National Schools’ Maintenance Week that aims to bring together all education stakeholders to participate and contribute their time, effort, and resources to prepare public school facilities in time for the opening of classes on June 3.
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