SAN JOSE, Antique (PIA) – The Department of Education Division of Antique (DepEd Antique) continues to prepare for the opening of school year 2022-2023 on August 22.
DepEd Antique officially kicked off, August 11, the provincial “Brigada Eskwela 2022” with a ceremony at Antique National School (ANS) in San Jose town, following a motorcade with partner government agencies and private institutions.
With the theme “Tugon sa Hamon ng Ligtas na Balik-Aral,” this year’s Brigada Eskwela underscores the need for collective efforts from all stakeholders to enable a safe learning environment for learners, teaching and non-teaching staff, and the community as a whole.
Amid the threat of COVID-19, DepEd Antique School Governance and Operations Division Chief Evelyn Remo said, in a press conference, that the Department of Education is not discriminatory towards unvaccinated personnel and learners.
She emphasized that vaccines are not a requisite in schools but said that the education department encourages personnel and learners alike to receive protection against COVID-19, noting that almost 90% of their workforce has already been inoculated with vaccines.
For her part, Senior Education Program Specialist Roselyn Abuela said that, apart from the usual Brigade Eskwela that focuses on school maintenance activities, DepEd is also staging “Brigada Eskwela Plus” and “Brigada Pagbasa.”
Brigada Eskwela Plus intends to improve education quality, increase learner performance and reduce school drop-outs, while Brigada Pagbasa is an after-school remediation program where volunteers serve as learning facilitators in reading.
Curriculum Implementation Division Chief Dr. Edward Baña said that previous runs of the Brigada Pagbasa yielded good results, thus its re-implementation particularly with the current “learning poverty” and poor reading skills among learners brought about by the pandemic.
All 603 public and private schools in the province are receiving enrollments, while some 168,000 learners are expected to return to schools this year.
Further, DepEd Antique is set to convene its management committee to lay down plans and strategies for achieving learning recovery and continuity among learners. (AAL/BPS/PIA Antique)
