Australian embassy joins Brigada in MM, provinces

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Education (DepEd) has noted the active participation anew of the Australian embassy in delivering quality, accessible, relevant and liberating education through its Brigada Eskwela 2017 program this month.

Last week, at least 100 volunteers from the Australian embassy and Basic Education Sector Transformation (BEST) Program led a cleanup drive and distributed school supplies and classroom repair materials at Padre Zamora Elementary School in Pasay City.

DepEd National Capital Region regional director Ponciano Menguito joined Australian Ambassador Amanda Gorely at the cleanup drive in Pasay City, and expressed his gratitude to the Australians’ unwavering support to DepEd.

“We are happy to help schools prepare for the opening of classes in June. The embassy has participated in the Brigada Eskwela since 2010. This is part of Australia’s broader support to the Philippines’ education reform,”Gorely, who joined the other Brigada volunteers, said.

“The Philippines and Australia have been longstanding friends and partners. We are pleased to be supporting Brigada Eskwela in time with the celebration of the first Philippines-Australia Friendship Day this weekend,” Gorely added.

Two more Metro Manila schools – Doña Juana Elementary School in Quezon City and  Ricardo P. Cruz Sr. Elementary School in Taguig – and eight more schools in Visayas and Mindanao also received cleaning and repair materials from the BEST Program. 

In the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), Gorely joined parents and other stakeholders in re-painting teacher tables and student armchairs at Camp Siongco Elementary School in the town of Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao on May 19.

Aside from school and cleaning materials, Gorely turned over Ligtas ang Batang Handa (A Prepared Child is a Safe Child) videos and booklets to the two schools she visited in Cebu City. Australian embassy first secretary Felicity Lee also turned over similar materials to Ramon Duterte National High School on May 15 during the national launch of Brigada Eskwela 2017. 

Produced by ABS-CBN’s Bantay Bata 163 with funding support from the Australian government’s Direct Aid Program, Ligtas ang Batang Handa promotes emergency and calamity awareness, helping children become better prepared for emergencies or calamities. Australia will be distributing these materials later to schools in the BEST-supported Regions 5, 6, 7, 8, 10 and NCR.

Classroom repair materials amounting to P1.7 million were also distributed by the Basic Education Assistance in Muslim Mindanao Program to 52 madaris schools in Mindanao during the Brigada Eskwela week.