THE City Government of Bacolod will provide free school supplies to all public elementary students in the locality this school year, an official said yesterday, August 9.
Councilor Al Victor Espino, chairperson of the City Council committee on education, said the budget for the free school supplies will be taken from the Special Education Fund (SEF) and they are only waiting for its release.
“We will hold a meeting with the members of the Local School Board so that we can decide on when we can purchase the school supplies,” he said.
The councilor added that Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez will also make an announcement for the schedule of the release of the education materials.
In 2016, the city council approved the ordinance providing free educational materials to all students of public elementary schools in Bacolod.
It was authored by former councilor Caesar Distrito.
The previous administration also provided school supplies such as pencil, ballpen, notebook, paper, crayons, ruler and bag to all pupils from grades one to six in all public elementary schools.
Espino said that based on the approved ordinance, the city government will allocate P15 million for this program.
“For now, we will determine the number of enrollees in various public elementary schools so we can have our budget to purchase the school supplies,” Espino said.
The opening of classes in public schools, which is a blended learning, will be on August 22, 2022 while its full face-to-face classes will start on November 2, 2022, he added.*