BAGUIO CITY – The Division of City Schools of the Department of Education is currently validating earlier reports on the mandatory collections done by some school officials in the city during the conduct of the week-long Brigada Eskwela which is reportedly in violation of existing rules and regulations governing the conduct of the annual activity.
Ellaine Cabuag, senior education program specialist of the Division of City Schools, admitted that reports on mandatory collections conducted by a number of school officials during the conduct of the activities for the Brigada Eskwela in their schools have reached their office thus city education officials ordered the conduct of validation on the said reports before appropriate actions will be done.
The education specialist explained that under existing rules and regulations of the Brigada Eskwela, mandatory collections from parents and students are not allowed but only voluntary contributions from donors and other stakeholders, aside from the services they may render to the schools.
“It is worthy to emphasize that services rendered and contributions given to the schools are voluntary in nature, that is why we are looking into a number of reports that some school officials had been mandating students and parents to contribute for the conduct of the Brigada Eskwela in their respective schools,” Cabuag stressed.
Further, she added the services rendered and the contributions given by parents, guardians and students, are not requirements for enrolment to the said public schools as the institutionalized Brigada Eskwela is a purely voluntary activity on their part to help prepare the school in time for the opening of classes.
Cabuag expressed her gratitude to all concerned stakeholders, parents, students, guardians, barangay officials, corporate donors, among others, who in one way or another, helped in the successful conduct of the Brigada Eskwela from May 20-24, 2019 that ensured the preparedness of the different public schools in the city in time for the opening of regular classes on Monday for schoolyear 2019-2020.
According to her, the local government headed by Mayor Mauricio G. Domogan also played a key role in the successful conduct of the Brigada Eskwela because of the institutionalized assistance amounting to P1.5 million that was equally divided among the schools for the purchase of needed materials in the repair of the various equipment and facilities of the school for the class opening.
Cabuag claimed that the Division of City Schools will wait for the findings and recommendations of the validation done on the schools that made mandatory collections during the conduct of the Brigada Eskwela to inform actions to be undertaken by the authorities on those that violated the rules and regulations for the annual school maintenance activity.
Earlier, the local government institutionalized the annual conduct of the Brigada Eskwela in the city earmarking P1.5 million in its annual budget for the conduct of their programmed activities in the public schools.
By Dexter A. See