The mystery in a brigada eskwela

AFTER feeling glad of the news that his city high alma mater won the best brigada eskwela implementer, Jack went back to school. I kid you not, he said to his colleague. How would a vast centralize school like his alma mater won over that of other entries – I mean the well deserving entries? So he went to principal Brinda to pat her back, but it seems a pouting OIC is the only personnel around. Not again, Jack thinks, don’t tell me that the principal is a seminarian, lest she becomes the local version of “The nun”. Do you mean “the none” jointed the OIC, because together with two head teachers they went to dipulug city for the price. While he is about to sit in the sofa of the office and flick through the history of the brigada eskwela, Jack asked, was the price very heavy, so that the principal needs two helpers?

Brigada eskwela or the National Schools Maintenance Week was a memorandum signed by president Arroyo in 2005. The noble intent is community involvement. That is, there shall be a scenario where all stakeholders – parents, teachers, agencies of the government and private person help one another in preparing the school every start of the school year.

With that definition jack was more confused as several questions pop in his mind. Are public schools funding especially infrastructures insufficient, so that it needs outside support? As he reads further, it came to his mind that the answer is No, because the intent of the memorandum is cooperation or bayanihan among stakeholders in order to feel the spirit of a collective effort. So in that sense how did city high won when instead of collective effort, its collective payment? Jack is referring to parents who cannot render services like painting and other classroom repairs, but were asked to donate money instead. So where is the spirit of bayanihan there? Nowhere in the memorandum says, except local businesses. Jack recalls one time when he was involved in the school enrollment, in which; those who did not attend the brigada were encouraged to put donations in a cartoon box. Jack and a senior mentor were in charge of the enrollment. Feeling exhausted of the activity and it was almost twelve, Jack expects no one to enroll. Alas, a grandson of a police general together with his father entered the door. The senior mentor handled the enrollment and since the parent has not attended the brigada, the enrollee was asked to give donations. The father opened his wallet and plucked a yellow bill – the lowest in a bundle and inserted it in the box. When the enrollee left, the senior mentor called out Jack and said: Get a twig and take out that yellow bill and buy as some lunch. With his idealism, honor and honesty, Jack protested. But uttering with a higher tone, the senior mentor retorted and spoke, Jack even if you combine all the names of the class sections, those will not feed us. You see, our superiors are sitting pretty in their offices and none of them bothered to check if we are doing well. In the end, credits belong to them. To be continued…