PARENTS, teachers and students in Mandaue City have their hands full as they start preparing public schools for the opening of classes next month.

However, they’re not alone.

For the weeklong Brigada Eskwela that started last Monday, May 20, they can count on members of different government agencies like the police and the fire department to give them a helping hand.

At the Mandaue City Central School, they started cleaning early in the morning and didn’t stop until it was late in the afternoon. The heat and the dust didn’t seem to have bothered them.

The school is one of the biggest in the city with a student population of 4,100 last school year. The number is expected to go up this year.

Alma Malinao, 61, was accompanied by her granddaughter, Alexa Pepito, 11. The two were cleaning the windows, sweeping the floor and arranging chairs and tables in one of the Grade 3 classrooms.

They had come from Alexa’s Grade 7 classroom and would later head to the Grade 1 classroom of her younger sibling.

In Barangay Centro, 11 tanods swept the school grounds and pulled out weeds.

Claribel Colipapa, the school principal, was grateful to all those who participated in the activity.

She said members of the private sector have also pledged to donate paint. Some have offered to do the painting themselves while others offered to provide additional assistance, she said.

Colipapa said Brigada Eskwela is not only about preparing schools for classes. It’s a yearlong activity with the aim of helping students with their learning, she said.

On Wednesday, May 22, the school will start accepting enrollees so it can accommodate everyone. Enrollment was initially set on May 27, but teachers have a seminar next week, she said.

Classes in public schools start on June 3. (from FMD of Super Balita Cebu/PJB)