PRESIDENT MARCOS LEADS BRIGADA ESKWELA AT A NAVOTAS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

PRESIDENT Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on Tuesday led a Brigada Eskwela inspection at Kapitbahayan Elementary School in Navotas, showcasing the administration’s campus security and learner-centered literacy initiatives.

President Marcos was accompanied by Department of Education (DepEd) Secretary Sonny Angara, and Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Rex Gatchalian, as they inspected the fully-activated campus where volunteers, teachers, and parents were preparing for the opening of classes on June 8.

The President inspected the school’s newly-operational closed-circuit television (CCTV) network, which serves as a key component of the DepEd’s broader campus security framework designed to address challenges such as bullying, vandalism and unauthorized entry.

President Marcos thanked everyone who volunteered to help in the preparations.

“Kaya nagpapasalamat kami sa kanilang lahat. At malaking bagay ang ginagawa nila para tulungan ang ating mga administrator, ang mga teacher, para makapaghanda para sa pasukan,” President Marcos said in his remarks during the inspection in the school.

President Marcos also said that the government had allocated funds for the preparation of public schools.

“Tapos na ang implementasyon ng 147 na paaralan ang matutulungan, 3,658 ang naging beneficiary ng TUPAD, at ang nilagay natin ay P26.12 milyon ang kabuuang pondong naipamahagi natin,” President Marcos said.

“Pinapatupad ngayon – mayroon pang 181 na paaralan tutulungan; 4,597 ang benepisyaryo ng TUPAD; at may nakalaang P37.14 million para diyan sa programang ‘yan,” the President also said.

Significant gains in learner proficiency were also highlighted at the campus’ new child-friendly reading spaces, established under DepEd’s Reading Nooks initiative to address early-grade reading gaps for Kindergarten and Grade 3 learners through age-appropriate materials and leveled storybooks.

After inspecting the CCTV monitoring room, the Chief Executive personally led an interactive storytelling session with young learners inside the Reading Nook to promote the government’s foundational literacy drive.

President Marcos read to the children a famous Filipino book called “Ang Matsing at Ang Pagong” written by national hero Jose Rizal. The President then distributed stuffed toys to the young students after the reading.

The DSWD also showcased the Tara, Basa! Tutoring Program, which works in close alignment with DepEd’s foundational literacy campaigns by utilizing college student tutors to provide remedial reading sessions to struggling elementary school learners.

Data from DepEd showed that 823 learners began the previous school year under the Academic Recovery and Accessible Learning (ARAL) program.

By the end of the school year, no learners remained at struggling levels in reading and mathematics, and no ARAL summer program was required.

The success shows a major nationwide milestone for DepEd’s ARAL program, which significantly reduced the total number of struggling learners across the country from 6.7 million to 2.2 million.

President Marcos was also shown a school building constructed during the administration of his late father, President Ferdinand E. Marcos Sr., and another school building that was donated during the tenure of his mother, former First Lady Imelda R. Marcos when she served as head of the Ministry of Human Settlements.

After inspecting the classrooms, President Marcos also joined volunteers in painting the walls of one of the classrooms.

Angara lauded the collaborative volunteer efforts for ongoing classroom maintenance work, augmented by the Department of Labor and Employment’s (DOLE) Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Wokers (TUPAD) Program, which deployed 240,000 workers nationwide for Brigada Eskwela.