DepEd gears up for Brigada Eskwela

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Education (DepEd) will officially launch next week the annual Brigada Eskwela to ensure that schools are ready for the opening of classes on June 5.

DepEd officials led by Secretary Leonor Briones will join education stakeholders during the national kick-off of the annual campaign in Cebu on Monday.

Various groups, including the Philippine Business for Social Progress headed by former education chief Armin Luistro, will also organize Brigada Eskwela across the country this weekend.

“All regional directors and schools division superintendents will mobilize their Adopt-a-School Program/Brigada Eskwela coordinators to ensure the successful six-day implementation of Brigada Eskwela in all public elementary and secondary schools, and to ensure the involvement of the community and local stakeholders,” DepEd said.

“School heads will take the lead in planning the said activities, which include tree planting and vegetable gardening to promote the clean and green campaign of the government,” it added.

School heads are encouraged to make the weeklong activity a venue to step up community contribution in the continuous and shared responsibility of providing quality basic education.

Aside from school maintenance activities, officials are also expected to initiate community-led efforts to improve student participation and reduce drop-outs, as well as improve student performance in schools.

Briones and other DepEd officials will hold a press conference today to discuss preparations for the opening of classes, when more than 25 million students are expected to return to public and private schools.

Mass teachers training

Meanwhile, DepEd will also conduct a mass training of teachers handling different subjects in all public senior high schools across the country.

Briones issued a memorandum containing the guidelines for the conduct of the mass training for teachers as well as for those who will handle the activity.

Over 33,000 public school teachers are expected to undergo the mass training. 

Briones said the training aims to provide the teachers with concrete understanding of both the common topics and the curriculum frameworks, learning standards and competencies in the applied subjects taught in senior high school.

Training for teachers in sports track is slated from May 3 to 13, while teachers in arts and design will undergo training from May 27 to June 2.

The mass training for teachers in the academic and technical-vocational tracks will be determined per region and will be conducted within the school year.

Since last month, DepEd has also been conducting training aimed at familiarizing the trainers on how to conduct the sessions with the senior high school teachers.

More than 1,000 trainers selected from different regions will handle the mass training.