Brigada Eskwela gets better turnout

THIS year’s Brigada Eskwela or the National Schools Maintenance Week of the Department of Education (DepEd) was able to generate more than P4.7 million worth of donations in kind from private companies and various groups.

Margarita Consolacion Ballesteros, director for External Partnerships Services at DepEd, revealed that the education department has generated resources amounting to P4.76 million compared to the previous P3.62 million.

This is a 31.5-percent increase from last year’s amalgamated sum from infrastructures and other donations, and from volunteer man hours.

There was also an increase in the number of volunteers as statistics showed that there were 11.62 million volunteers who contributed to the successful implementation of Brigada Eskwela from May 30 to - ment of 31.8 percent compared to last year’s 8.82 million.

“Education is everybody’s business,” Education Secretary Leonor Magtolis Briones said in her speech during the 2016 National Brigada Eskwela Awards at Claire Isabel McGill Luce Auditorium in Dumaguete City.

“We are all responsible for the kind of education we share with our learners, the kind of citizens we mould. This is not only the responsibility of the Department of Education. It is all our responsibility,” she added.

During the national kick- off ceremony at Santa Cruz Pingkian High School in Nueva Vizcaya last year, Brigada Eskwela volunteers and coordinators gave their utmost support in providing a safe, disaster-ready, and conducive learning environment to all its learners.

With the theme “Tayo Para Sa Paaralang Ligtas, Maayos at Handa Mula Kindergarten Hanggang Senior High School,” stakeholders from various sectors partnered with DepEd to offer their unwavering participation for the success of the event.

Island Region became the convening venue for this year’s National Brigada Eskwela Awards held on November 29 held at the Claire Isabel McGill Luce Auditorium in Silliman University.