‘Brigada Eskwela’ continues in Marawi until full recovery – DepEd

The “Brigada Eskwela sa Marawi” will be a continuous activity to help rebuild the besieged city, Education Secretary Leonor Briones said.

“The three days is only a kick off [for the public] but it will be a continuing activity until the complete recovery of Marawi,” Briones said during the “Brigada Eskwela sa Marawi” (BESM) kick off.

“I said that this is only the start of a series of activities in Marawi, a series of BESM,” Briones said. “Those who went to the ground zero know that there is so much that needs to be done,” she added.

The initial round of the BESM covered only 15 out of the 39 assessed schools in Marawi.

“We still have many schools to go [so] this will be a continuing activity until next year. We will not stop until all schools are ready,” Briones said.

Briones expressed hope that Marawi will get back on its feet after the months-long clash between the government forces and local terrorist group.

“We’re happy to notice that not only the children have returned but also the teachers,” she said. “A teacher whom I met in Dumaguete where she and her family fled [during the crisis] is now back and greeted me [here]…it was a wonderful reunion,” she added.

Rebuilding will take time Meanwhile, Briones said that it will take some time before schools destroyed in the besieged city will be fully restored. While DepEd has been focusing on rehabilitation and rebuilding efforts in Marawi, “it is difficult to give an exact timeline for the complete recovery of the city.”

Rehabilitation efforts for the affected schools, Briones said, “will take some time” since it has to be in conjunction with other agencies of the government. With 22 Marawi schools totally destroyed within the 10-hectare battle zone, “I don’t think we can finish it in one year’s time,” she said.

For classrooms that have been destroyed, Briones said that it will take at least one or two years to rebuild or restore these – including others that were not totally damaged.

The education chief said she will go to the schools in the so-called “ground zero” to personally assess the situation. “Early next year, I will go to ground zero to really see what needs to be done and inspect schools in the ground zero,” she said.

A total of 14 schools will be covered by the minor repairs while the remaining 25 schools that have been evaluated by the DepEd’s engineers will be covered by the succeeding rounds of the special Brigada.

Latest data from regional offices showed that there is more than 111 million worth of donations for the BESM.

DepEd said that around 11.5 billion is needed to rebuild and repair affected schools in Marawi.