DepEd kicks off Brigada Eskwela for SY 2022-2023

The Department of Education (DepEd) on Monday officially commenced the nationwide Brigada Eskwela for this year, three weeks before School Year 2022-2023 opens on August 22.

Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte personally led the national schools maintenance week with the theme “Brigada Eskwela: Tugon sa Hamon ng Ligtas na Balik-Aral,” at the Imus Pilot Elementary School in Cavite.

The Brigada Eskwela usually involves cleaning, repainting, and doing necessary repairs in public schools to prepare them ahead of the reopening of classes. This initiative will be implemented until August 26.

In her speech, Duterte acknowledged that the annual activity may cause both excitement and uneasiness or anxiety to some teachers, parents, and learners due to the threat of the COVID-19 and other diseases.

“Excitement because Brigada Eskwela activities all over the country always highlight the communal efforts of all education stakeholders to prepare our schools for our learners. We would see parents who are excited, willing, and happy to extend any help they could to ensure that our schools are ready to receive our learners from day one of the opening of classes and onwards to the school year,” she said.

“Uneasiness or anxiety because of the peculiarity of our time now. We continue to face the threats of the COVID-19 pandemic, along with many other unexpected challenges that hamper our daily progress for our learners — monkeypox, baha, bagyo, earthquake — all of that will come. What is important is that we have the determination to succeed in our mission,” she added.

Duterte said the DepEd has laid down measures to serve as a guide in preventing students from contracting the COVID-19. She also reiterated her call for teaching and non-teaching personnel to get vaccinated.

DepEd spokesperson Michael Poa last Wednesday said DepEd is coordinating with the Department of Health (DOH) to roll out a mobile COVID-19 vaccination in schools in time for the reopening of classes.

Further, DepEd Undersecretary Gerard Chan said that for Brigada Eskwela 2022, DepEd will “highlight the country’s collective efforts from various partnership engagements both in the local and national levels in addressing learning gaps and in creating a safe learning environment for learners, teaching and non-teaching personnel, and the community for the achievement of quality basic education.”

The program will also compose of three components namely Brigada Eskwela sa Paghahanda, Brigada Eskwela Plus, and Brigada Pagbasa.

Duterte earlier said that the combined in-person classes and distance learning will be implemented from August to October, while the five-day face-to-face classes will start in November this year. — RSJ, GMA News