ILOILO CITY, ILOILO, June 23, 2022— Citing the milestones of the past year’s Brigada Eskwela, the Department of Education (DepEd) highlighted the Home Learning Spaces Program during the 2021 National Brigada Eskwela Awards.

The Home Learning Spaces Project is an offshoot program of the Brigada Eskwela adopted by the Central Office from the initiative of DepEd Region VI, SDO Capiz. The project aims to bring together education partners and experts to help learners and their families create a quality and conducive learning space at home to answer the challenges imposed in implementing the Basic Education Learning Continuity Plan (BE-LCP).

Established by the External Partnership Services (EPS) and partners, the project aims to create a learning nook in houses for learners to feel more comfortable studying. In coordination with its partners, the Department provided study tables, lamps, chairs, bins and other learning materials, which can help augment the needs of the learners.

“The idea of the Home Learning Spaces is we will provide the learners, with the help of our partners, basic materials to make their homes more comfortable for them to study. Home Learning Spaces give corners to learners that will make them more productive and study more freely,” Undersecretary for Legislative Affairs, External Partnerships, Project Management Service and Private Education Office Tonisito M.C. Umali, Esq., CESO I shared.

“In the phase of us going back to face-to-face learning, we still need these spaces because the easing of in-person learning is by batches. Home learning is still possible, and it will still happen,” he added.

In addition, the Undersecretary also reported on the success of Brigada Pagbasa and School Safety Preparedness Guide (SSPG) as other programs under Brigada Eskwela and the plans of the Department for SY 2022-2023 Brigada Eskwela that is set to start on August 1 to August 26.

During the 2021 Brigada Eskwela, the Department garnered a total of Php 6.7B in total of resources and estimate value of hours rendered by over 1.8B volunteers nationwide.

For next year’s Brigada Eskwela, DepEd aims to address learning resource gaps for face-to-face learning of teachers and learners, strengthen partnership engagements at local and national levels, and intensify the implementation of its offshoot programs.

Moreover, the Department also recognized the best implementers of the Brigada Eskwela through the 2021 National Brigada Eskwela Awards, where 130 schools from Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao convened to celebrate the success of the program and exchange best practices among them.

The awarding ceremony held last June 20, 2022 at the Iloilo Convention Center, Iloilo City was attended by DepEd Undersecretary Tonisito M.C. Umali, Esq, CESO I, External Partnerships Service Director III, Edel B. Carag, Regional and Assistant Regional Directors, Schools Division Superintendents, School Heads, Brigada Eskwela champions and partnership focal persons.

“Brigada Eskwela provides us an opportunity to address learning resource gaps and provide our learners with better learning environment. After all, better learning environment, better learning experience. Maraming salamat po sa mga stakeholders, para sa bata, para sa bayan, para sa lahat,” Education Secretary Leonor Magtolis Briones said in her virtual keynote message.

END