[March 27, 2019] 2019 Brigada Eskwela DepEd Implementing Guidelines
- The Department of Education (DepEd) will conduct the 2019 Brigada Eskwela from May 20 to 25, 2019 with the theme “Matatag na Bayan para sa Maunlad na Paaralan.”
- The Brigada Eskwela is the National Schools Maintenance Week that aims to bring together all education stakeholders to participate and contribute their time, effort, and resources to prepare public school facilities for the opening of the school year in June.
- The host region will hold the national kick-off program on May 16, 2019 in a public school to be announced later.
- Likewise, regional offices (ROs) and schools division offices (SDOs) will hold their kick-off ceremonies to launch the Brigada Eskwela in their respective areas on May 20, 2019.
- All regional directors (RDs) and schools division superintendents (SDSs) shall mobilize their partnerships with school-based focal persons to ensure the effective implementation of Brigada Eskwela in all public elementary and secondary schools, and the involvement of their communities.
- School heads (SHs) shall take the lead role in planning the activities geared on making schools ecologically conscious, resilient, clean, and conducive to learning. Important reminders to SHs in the conduct of this activity are indicated in Enclosure No. 1.
- Individuals or groups from the national government agencies (NGAs), local government units (LGUs), private sectors, international organizations, and volunteers interested to help the schools may coordinate with any of the following for guidance:
- External Partnerships Service (EPS) of the DepEd Central Office,
- Education Support Services Division in the ROs,
- Social Mobilization and Networking Section under the Schools Governance and Operations Division in the SDOs, and/or
- SHs of the beneficiary schools
- All DepEd employees are encouraged to join the 2019 Brigada Eskwela activities by volunteering their skills, sharing their time or providing in-kind support to public schools near their residence. Interested employees are given two days to do volunteer work on official time, provided that such work is approved by their heads of offices.
- Further, nonteaching personnel shall earn a Compensatory Time Off (CTO) for the complete eight hours participation in the maintenance efforts on the last day of Brigada Eskwela week, which is a Saturday.
- Teaching personnel are entitled to earn vacation service credits arising from their active involvement in the 2019 Brigada Eskwela activity. Teachers shall earn a one-day service credit for the accumulated eight hours participation in the maintenance effort. For further details on granting service credits to teachers, please refer to DepEd Order No. 53, s. 2003 entitled Updated Guidelines on Grant of Vacation Service Credits to Teachers.
- Central office key officials are enjoined to participate in activities related to the Brigada Eskwela implementation.
- All bureau and regional directors, ESSD chiefs and Regional Partnerships focal persons are invited to attend the national kick-off program. Travel and incidental expenses shall be charged to local funds, subject to the usual accounting and auditing rules and regulations.
- The schedule of activities for the 2019 Brigada Eskwela implementation is as follows:
- January 3 – May 17, 2019 | Pre-implementation Stage of Brigada Eskwela (Assessment of Physical Facilities and Maintenance Needs of the Schools, Resource Mobilization, Organization of Brigada Eskwela Committees and their Orientation on Specific Roles and Tasks, among other activities)
- May 16, 2019 | Brigada Eskwela National Kick-off Program and Caravan
- May 20, 2019 (on or before) | Brigada Eskwela Regional and Schools Division Kick-off Program and Caravan
- May 20 – 25, 2019 | Brigada Eskwela Implementation and Monitoring of Schools
- June 28, 2019 | Submission of Consolidated Brigada Eskwela Accomplishment Reports by the Division Coordinators to the Regions
- July 31, 2019 | Submission of Consolidated Brigada Eskwela Accomplishment Reports by the Regional Coordinators to the External Partnerships Service
- July 31, 2019 | Submission of Division Entries for the Brigada Eskwela Awards to the Regions
- August 1 – September 27, 2019 | Regional Selection and Deliberation of Brigada Eskwela Awards Candidates
- October 18, 2019 (on or before) | Submission of Final List of School Candidates as Brigada Eskwela National Awardees to External Partnerships Service, including the submission of rating sheets reflecting the ranks and scores of the awardee -candidates
- October – November 2019 | Conduct of Brigada Eskwela Regional Awarding Ceremony
- November 28, 2019 | Conduct of Brigada Eskwela National Awarding Ceremony
- To implement the selection process in the Search for Brigada Eskwela Best Implementing Schools effectively, DepEd hereby issues a set of criteria, and details of which are provided in Enclosure No. 2.
- The SH and school coordinator of the Brigada Eskwela Best Implementing Schools shall receive a certificate of recognition, which they can present when they apply for promotion based on the existing hiring and promotion guidelines. Certificate of Appreciation shall also be given to the Parents-Teachers Association (PTA), Local Government Unit (LGU) partner, major private sector partner, the school and to the Adopt-a-School coordinator.
- All Brigada Eskwela Hall of Fame Awardees shall implement innovative and community-led efforts to improve student participation and performance.
- The Brigada Eskwela Plus Program shall be conducted in public schools nationwide, in phases, consistent with the regular Brigada Eskwela Program. This program aims (a) to achieve higher and significant goals geared towards increasing learners’ participation rate, reducing dropouts and helping improve learning for both learners and community, and (b) to create a network of community-based organizations to get total community commitment to attain a higher learning, through collaborative programs and projects.
- The implementation of Brigada Eskwela Plus will focus on the following three key activities:
- School maintenance activities throughout the school year,
- School and community effort to improve participation and reduce dropout rate, or to enroll in the alternative delivery mode, and
- School and community effort to improve student and community learning.
- From among the Hall of Fame Awardees, each region will select one Brigada Eskwela Plus Most Sustained School Award. The details of this selection process are also contained in Enclosure No. 2.
- For more information, contact External Partnerships Service, Ground Floor, Teodora Alonzo Bldg., Department of Education Central Office, DepEd Complex, Meralco Avenue, Pasig City at telephone nos. (02) 638-8637, (02) 638-8639, or email at [email protected]. ph.
- Immediate dissemination of this Memorandum is desired.
LEONOR MAGTOLIS BRIONES (Secretary)