With brooms, cans of paint and cleaning materials, parents and students reported to schools early Monday for the government’s yearly school cleanup program.
In Quezon City, radio dzBB’s Manny Vargas reported that parents, teachers and even students brought cleaning materials to the Quezon City High School as early as 7 a.m.
"Ito ang puspusan na campaign para ang mga bata will stay in school (This is part of our all-out campaign to make sure children stay in school)," Education Secretary Mona Valisno said in an interview on dwIZ radio, referring to her department’s "Brigada Eskwela" program.
But Valisno and other DepEd officials were ironically late for the start of the “Brigada Eskwela" caravan, arriving at their first destination 30 minutes late.
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A report by dzBB’s Sam Nielsen said Valisno and DepEd officials arrived at the San Joaquin Elementary School in Pasig City at about 7:35 a.m., half and hour behind schedule.
Still, Valisno said that with the cleanup, they want to make sure schools are clean and sanitary enough for pupils to stay in.
More than 21 million elementary and high school students are expected to return to school for the start of School Year 2010-2011 on June 15.
The Department of Education was to lead a “Brigada Eskwela" cleanup in schools in Pasig City and some parts of Metro Manila.
Under the “Brigada Eskwela" program, parents, teachers, and local government and community officials are to help clean up schools for the start of the school year.
Typhoon-affected schools ready
Valisno said schools in Metro Manila and Pangasinan affected by last year’s killer cyclones are ready for the opening of classes on June 15.
She said an inspection of cyclone-affected schools last weekend showed many of them had been cleaned up and prepared.
"Yung mga tinitingnan namin para maayos naman ang preparation, maski ang affected ng flooding tinitingnan namin kung ready na. Nakita ko ready naman (We checked schools for their preparation over the weekend. I have seen that even schools affected by flooding last year are ready)," Valisno said in an interview on dwIZ radio.
She said that in Metro Manila, schools in Muntinlupa city that served as shelters from a recent fire had been cleaned up and prepared for the opening of school as well.
In Pangasinan, schools affected by flooding and those that served as evacuation sites in the wake of cyclone "Pepeng" (Parma) were also cleaned up, Valisno said.
"Maayos ang classrooms, ang probinsya noong weekend sa Pangasinan. Maayos ang iskwelahan na affected by flooding. Nakatulong ang community at local government lalo sa pagbigay ng bagong computers, pati library they set up a library hub (The classrooms in the Pangasinan schools are cleaned up. The community and local government even distributed new computers and set up a library hub)," she said.
300 CCTV cameras in NCR
For its part, the Metro Manila police said at least 300 closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras are in place to keep watch against criminals in school zones.
Radio dzBB’s Denver Trinidad reported that as of Monday, the CCTV cameras are positioned at the University Belt and International School zones.
In Manila, dzBB’s Carlo Mateo reported the Manila Police District will deploy Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) teams and plainclothes policemen especially near Chinese schools. — RSJ
