NAGA CITY-In the past, school buildings in Panicuason Elementary School by this time of the year had been repainted already. But now, barely three weeks before the opening of classes, classrooms in this school farthest from the city proper of Naga are yet to burn in colors to welcome giddy schoolchildren.
"We don't have enough school funds this year to shoulder the cost of repainting the classrooms," OIC school head Minette Mira told Vox Bikol on the first day of the yearly Brigada Eskwela.
"Brigada" is a set of activities meant to prepare schools for the opening of classes. It is implemented yearly by the Department of Education in public schools all over the country.
Mira said they had always repainted classrooms before but had to skip it this year for lack of funds.
"We rely mainly from donations from parents. We also solicit for paints from the city government."
She said about 72 parents came very early on Monday (May 18) for the clean-up activities. "Most of them came early because they still have works in the fields."
She said women did the weeding while men took care of the cutting of overhanging branches of trees.
Some parents donated cleaning brooms and other cleaning materials.
She said some parents offered to donate money but they refused it in exchange for boxes of floorwax. "We do not accept monetary donations."
She said on the second day of "Brigada" parents would be helping in mending damaged fences, and in landscaping and beautifying the grounds.
She said lack of available funds have been a limitation in conducting further classroom repairs.
"For instance, the jalousie windows of our new school buildings could not be opened or closed. We need carpenters to repair them but that would entail additional expense."
But she said some parents who were also carpenters volunteered to do minor repairs.
"We also lack chairs. We are forced to let two children use the same chair at the same time. But doing that is very disruptive to the class especially when the occupants would quarrel."
She said the school could not ask for each schoolchild to bring a chair. "They cannot afford bringing their own chairs. Our school caters to one of the poorer communities in the city. In fact, there are a number of schoolchildren who discontinue schooling because of poverty, while there are some who come to school without having breakfast."
But she said they had implemented programs with the city government, including a feeding program, to ease the situation.
She said the school also strictly implements the 'no collection policy" of the Department of Education.
Naga City school board project coordinator Huberto I. Ursua said the city government provided P10, 000 financial assistance to "Brigada" in each of the 37 public schools in the city.
"Brigada Eskwela is a very good project. It encourages the community to prepare the school for their children." With reports from Pons Caudilla