2012 Brigada Eskwela Focuses on School Hygiene and Indigenous Communities

Brigada Eskwela is an annual event that keep and maintains school facilities and equipment, this happens yearly two weeks before the school opening. Last year, I myself witness and participated the said event that was happened at Bago Bantay Elementary School (story HERE) and it was successful and fulfiling to be part of this. 

For this year's Brigada Eskwela school sanitation and improving the schools of indigenous communities is the focus. Spearheaded by the Department of Education, Brigada Eskwela or National Schools Maintenance Week is the improvement of toilets and wash facilities -- to give emphasis on the importance of school sanitation and hygiene. Education Secretary Br. Armin A. Luistro FSC said when schools promote hygiene, they also help develop learners who are conscious of their own health and personal well being. “Our thrust in this year’s Brigada Eskwela is on school sanitation because it is also where personal hygiene is reinforced among our students which can, in turn, help develop their self-esteem as well as to help improve the schools of indigenous communities", Luistro added.

All are in involve and will be participating Brigada Eskwela such as parents, teachers, students, civic and business groups, local government units, non-government units and other community residents to repair and sprucing of schools two weeks before the opening of classes in June, particularly May 21-26. The bayanihan spirit which the Brigada helps rekindle also encourages all sectors to be stakeholders in education. The annual school maintenance program enjoins education stakeholders to contribute their time, effort and resources for the repair work. The goal is to ensure that the public schools are ready to receive students when school opens.

DepEd Memo No. 56 series of 2012, the DepEd-wide activity will start with a motorcade from the Central Office in Pasig at 6:00 in the morning en route to the public school where the clean-up drive will officially lick-off. Brigada Eskwela enjoins participants to donate construction and cleaning materials or serve as volunteers. It does not accept cash donations on the other hand it generated an equivalent amount of over P2 billion from donations in kind and manhours spent in school repairs which would have otherwise been taken from the maintenance and other operating expenses (MOOE) of public schools.