ANGELES CITY -- Education Secretary Jesli Lapus said around 20 million soaps will be produced starting this year for its hygiene campaign as 12,000 out-of-school youths (OSYs) are set to complete the department's soap-making course.

Lapus made the announcement during the culminating program on soap-making for OSYs at the FG Nepomuceno Memorial High School in Barangay Pandan here.

Panagbenga 2009 blog

Soap-making seminar is under the Comprehensive Livelihood and Emergency Employment Program (Cleep) of the National Government, which aims to provide alternative employment and skills to idle manpower as a pro-active approach to the possible effects of the global financial crisis.

The Cleep requires all government agencies to come up with their respective livelihood and skills programs. Soap-making is just one of the few livelihood skills training line up by the Department of Education (DepEd) for OSYs.

"We hope to generate around 20 soaps each year until 2010. This in turn will result in earnings for our OSYs making it easy for them to come back to formal schooling. They could also use the skills they learn to embark on their own businesses," Lapus said.

The cash-in-soap program, he said, will benefit some 1.3 million public school students in Central Luzon. At the same time, the program will provide jobs for around 12,300 OSYs, who will earn P4,000 for making 2,000 bars of soap.

Lapus said DepEd expects the graduation of around 12,000 OSYs under the program from the provinces of Pampanga and Tarlac.

In the soap-making program, trainees learn to create their own herbal soaps based from indigenous ingredients. The products may range from fruit soaps made from kalamansi, papaya, and even soaps made from guava leaves.

But Lapus said that working through livelihood projects should only be the last choice of OSYs. He said there are available DepEd scholarships for the poor but deserving students in the country.

Lapus said the OSYs were taught how to make medicinal soap by school health personnel who were trained by the Philippine Institute of Traditional and Alternative Health Care.

Mayor's Office Chief-of-staff Gerard "Gepoy" Nepomuceno, who represented Mayor Francis "Blueboy" Nepomuceno, said the graduates of the soap making livelihood program will be able to become productive members of the community.

"The youth who cannot afford schooling can now have fresh start on their lives. Though, we urge the youth to still go back to formal schooling, learning to stand on their own and venture into business and self productive is also an indispensable part of life," Nepomuceno said.

Lapus and Nepomuceno also distributed pay envelopes and certificates of training to the OSYs of from the Divisions of Angeles City and Pampanga. They were assisted by Assistant Secretary Thelma Santos, DepEd Regional Director Mario Ramirez, and Schools Division Superintendent of Angeles City Dr. Antonieta Tiotuico.

Lapus said the soaps will be given to beneficiaries in Central Luzon for school year 2009-2010. Citing studies, DepEd said 46 percent of children in the area have pediculosis or head lice, while 40 percent have skin diseases.

"There is this urgent need to promote good hygiene among our young. Filipino school children are to be the forefront beneficiaries of this campaign. Let us start here in Central Luzon, with this program we are hitting two birds with one stone," the education official added. (IOF)