To: Undersecretaries
Assistant Secretaries
Bureau Directors
Directors of Services, Centers and Heads of Units
Regional Directors
Schools Division/City Superintendents
Heads, Public Elementary and Secondary Schools
All Others Concerned

1. The Department of Education (DepED) will launch the Brigada Eskwela Plus, the National Community Involvement in Education Initiative.
2. After having achieved full participation of all public schools in Brigada Eskwela, the annual National Schools Maintenance Week which empowers the various communities in the country to prepare their respective schools in time for the opening of classes in June, the DepED shall now step up its Brigada Eskwela efforts to harness the over 43,000 partnerships of public schools with their community stakeholders and to maximize each community’s potential for participation in the affairs of education through Brigada Eskwela Plus.
3. Brigada Eskwela Plus shall contribute to the attainment of the UNESCO- prescribed Education for All (EFA) goals that seek to increase student participation and reduce dropouts, specifically addressing these issues in the secondary level, and to improve the quality of education in participating schools in order to increase student performance.
4. Particularly, it shall aim for EFA Objective No. 4 to total community commitment to the attainment of basic education competencies for all and EFA Enabling Task No. 8 which is to create a network of community-based groups for local attainment of EFA goals.
5. The Adopt-A-School Program National Secretariat, the main proponent of Brigada Eskwela, shall implement Brigada Eskwela Plus in cooperation with other Department units and in support of existing DepED programs and projects.
6. Brigada Eskwela Plus shall focus on three (3) main activities:
   1. School maintenance activities throughout the school year;
   2. Community-led efforts to improve student participation and reduce dropouts; and
   3. Community-led efforts to improve student performance.
7. The DepED hereby directs all Provincial Schools Divisions to establish at least fifty (50) Brigada Eskwela Local Chapters to support the existing Brigada Eskwela committees in public elementary and secondary schools in their respective areas and all City Schools Divisions to establish at most five (5) Brigada Eskwela Local Chapters in public elementary and secondary schools in their respective areas. Each local chapter will undertake school maintenance activities throughout the year. The maintenance activities that shall be undertaken are:
   1. National Projects like Operation 10-Rs or the Recycle, Repair, Refurbish, Rehabilitate, Restore, Remodel, Repaint, Renew, Redistribute and Reuse of chairs, desks and tables wherein scrap materials are maximized to be reused to construct new school furniture. A separate DepED Order shall be issued to this effect; and
   2. Regional Projects such as the year-round repair, maintenance and construction of school facilities, including drinking fountains and wash areas, comfort rooms, roofs and ceilings, and electrical wiring.
8. This Department also hereby directs all Schools Divisions to identify at least five (5) secondary schools in their respective areas that will undertake efforts to improve student participation and reduce dropouts. In the Schools Division that has less than five (5) secondary schools, all their secondary schools are encouraged to participate in this initiative. School heads of the participating schools shall:
   1. Get in touch with their respective municipalities for the purpose of identifying the secondary school-aged children in the areas belonging to the age bracket 12-16 years old, and match the data with the combined enrolment of all high schools in the area. This is to identify those who are in¬school and out-of-school youth in their respective municipalities; and
   2. Conduct sign-up activities to bring those 12-16 years out- of-school youth back in school. Guidelines for Implementation shall be provided to the participating schools by October 31, 2009.
9. The Adopt-A-School Program shall identify fifty (50) public elementary and secondary schools from the Brigada Eskwela Hall of Fame awardee schools to serve as pilot schools for the community-led effort to improve student performance. These schools are hereby directed to participate in the training activities provided for under this particular component of the Brigada Eskwela Plusinitiative.
10. This Brigada Eskwela Plus initiative shall commence with a series of communications and social marketing efforts, including orientation programs, exhibits, publications and other activities, to enable the Department to effectively disseminate information about Brigada Eskwela Plus to the public and secure their much-needed support and cooperation for this initiative.
11. The Brigada Eskwela Plus shall not supersede the annually conducted Brigada Eskwela (National Schools Maintenance Week) that is scheduled two (2) weeks prior to the opening of classes.
12. Immediate dissemination of and strict compliance with this Order is directed.

References:
DepED Memorandum: No. 168, s. 2009 DepED Order: No. 24, s. 2008
Allotment: 1—(D.O. 50-97)

To be indicated in the Perpetual Index under the following subjects:
OFFICIALS
PROGRAMS
PROJECTS
SCHOOLS
STUDENTS

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