BAGUIO CITY – The education department announced that the annual Brigada Eskwela in the public schools all over the city will be on May 20-25, 2019 to ensure the readiness of the school facilities at the start of classes on June 3, 2019.
Officials of the Division of City Schools called on parents of schoolchildren and students, teachers, community residents, barangay officials and volunteers to actively participate in the conduct of the Brigada Eskwela in the different public schools in the city by rendering their services to prepare for the smooth opening of classes.
The annual Bridaga Eskwela program has been institutionalized by the education department and the local government to ensure the public schools are ready in time for the opening of classes so that schoolchildren and students will not spend time in preparing their classrooms and facilities when classes open for the schoolyear 2019-2020.
Earlier, the local legislative body approved an ordinance that institutionalized the annual conduct of the Brigada Eskwela in the different public schools and earmarked some P1.5 million from available local funds, particularly the city’s special education fund (SEF), to be equally distributed to the different schools through various materials needed in accomplishing the programmed works in the various schools for the duration of the week-long activity.
In the city alone, there are some 47 public elementary and 21 public secondary institutions located in the different parts of the city that provide quality basic education to close to a hundred thousand schoolchildren and students.
The annual Brigada Eskwela was conceptualized to ensure that schoolchildren and students will not be spending part of their precious school time in fixing their classrooms and other school facilities during the first week of classes and instead concentrate on their lesson right at the start of the classes.
The local government is apportioning a portion of its annual budget to help the Division of City Schools defray the agency’s maintenance and other operating expenses over and above that which is allocated by the central office, aside from the funds being set aside by the local school board through the Special Education Fund that is being utilized to compensate city-paid teachers and personnel, among other needs of the division.
Under the provisions of Republic Act (RA) 7160 or the Local Government Code of the Philippines, local governments are mandated to set aside a portion of their collection from real property taxes to be used by the local government for education-related programs, projects and activities under the care of the local school board and will comprise the special education fund.
Education officials expressed their gratitude to the local government for its continuing support to the numerous programs, projects and activities of the agency, especially in providing the schoolchildren and students of the city with quality education to prepare them for higher levels of education.
By Dexter A. See
