PBSP taps QC school as first 'Brigada Eskwela' beneficiary this year

PBSP taps QC school as first 'Brigada Eskwela' beneficiary this year 
Philippine News Agency
May 22, 2011

MANILA, May 22 (PNA) – The National Schools Maintenance Week, popularly known as “Brigada Eskwela,” will kick-off on Monday but the Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP) decided to pre-launch it Saturday, tapping Bagong Silangan Elementary School (BSES) in Quezon City as its first direct beneficiary.

BSES has a student population of about 7,200, with 152 teachers and only 64 classrooms serving residents not just of Bagong Silangan but of nearby Barangays Payatas and Batasan Hills.

Aside from being badly hit by typhoon Ondoy in 2009, BSES is one of the low-performing schools in Metro Manila, with its achievement rate the past three years way below the passing mark. For school year 2009-2010, the passing rate was a measly 53.55 percent, PBSP said.

Mitch Defensor, PBSP spokesman, also said that records show that around 15 percent of BSES students are frustrated readers, while 32 percent are either undernourished or malnourished.

Defensor said PBSP is fully supporting Brigada Eskwela because it adheres to its overall advocacy in quality basic education.

For this year, PBSP is targeting to raise P10 million to help 100 schools nationwide under the Brigada Eskwela program. The donation will be used for construction materials, purchase of textbooks and workbooks, school supplies, computers, school desks, nutrition and hygiene kits.

Last year, PBSP raised P1.4 million in cash and in-kind for 234 schools from 23 companies.

In pursuit of its employee volunteerism campaign, PBSP will conduct cleaning of classrooms, covering library books, gardening and minor repairs, and hair cut in the school campus.

The participating companies are Aquabest, Asalus Corp. (Intellicare), Citibank, Diwa Learning Systems Inc., ELRO Corp., Flying V, Holcim Phils., International Container Terminal Services Inc., L’Oreal Phils., Lamoiyan Corp., M&H Food Corp. (Hen Lin), Media Meter, Pacific Metals Canada Phils. Inc., and Victory Liner.