IN ABOUT a month from now, the Department of Education shall once again welcome the School Year 2021-2022, the second year of the implementation of blended learning to ensure the health and safety of our learners, teachers, and school personnel. While there were challenges and problems met during the past school year, it should be noted that DepEd succeeded in its mission to ensure that education does not stop amidst the pandemic.
With no benchmarks or past experiences in delivering distance education amidst a pandemic, education officials developed Basic Education Learning Continuity Plans and have come up with various alternative learning modalities such as the modular approach, online learning, radio-based and TV-based instruction. As a result, one of the biggest challenges is the generation of resources to meet the new demands of the new normal.
Thankfully, through the generosity and support of education partners which include local government officials, civic groups and none-government organizations, parents, barangay leaders, volunteer teachers, and those in the community who contributed in one way or another, schools have hurdled past the challenges and difficulties of adapting to the new normal mode of education. This gives us a clear picture that we Filipinos, could rise above any calamity or crisis because we help and support one another.
As DepEd launches this year’s Brigada Eskwela, there is a call to not just ensure education continuity but to help further improve the quality of education amidst the ongoing health crisis. DepEd shall double its efforts to
guarantee that every Filipino learner acquire the basic competencies such as literacy and numeracy. It seeks to intensify our collaboration to uplift the quality of education and meet the current gaps of our educational system.
One of the new components of this year's Brigada Eskwela is Brigada Pagbasa, an after-school reading program that envisions bringing together education partners and experts to help all learners read at home and become functionally literate. It will be a platform to synergize efforts and resources to address education-related challenges especially on literacy and numeracy. It also aims to create opportunities for stakeholders to contribute possible solutions to the current gaps in the country's education system, especially in equipping the learners with 21st century skills.
Organizations and individuals who are interested in providing support and assistance in line with the Brigada Eskwela may directly coordinate with the schools to identify the resources needed by the target beneficiaries.