Navotas city: President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. and Education Secretary Sonny Angara recently inspected the newly installed closed-circuit television (CCTV) network at Kapitbahayan Elementary School in Navotas City. This initiative is part of the Department of Education's (DepEd) strategy to enhance campus security ahead of the school opening on June 8.
According to Philippines News Agency, the inspection marked the beginning of this year's Brigada Eskwela, focusing on DepEd's comprehensive security program. The program aims to protect students from bullying, vandalism, and unauthorized campus entry through the use of CCTV technology.
Angara emphasized the importance of the initiative, stating, "It is a significant advantage to have President Bongbong Marcos with us to witness how secure schools, equipped with CCTV cameras, allow children to focus more on their studies." He also mentioned that the security measures are being combined with educational initiatives, such as Reading Nooks, to ensure students not only remain safe but also enhance their learning and reading skills.
Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Rex Gatchalian accompanied Marcos and Angara during the campus tour, which involved the participation of volunteers, teachers, and parents in cleanup and maintenance activities. Besides security infrastructure, officials reviewed the school's new Reading Nook, a DepEd project for enhancing literacy skills among kindergarten to Grade 3 students with age-appropriate books.
The reading initiative is conducted in partnership with the DSWD's Tara, Basa! Tutoring Program, which enlists college students to tutor elementary learners struggling with reading. School data shows that all 823 students enrolled in the Academic Recovery and Accessible Learning (ARAL) program last year successfully improved their reading and mathematics skills, eliminating the need for a summer program.
Nationwide, the ARAL Program has significantly reduced the number of struggling learners from 6.7 million to 2.2 million. During the tour, President Marcos also visited a heritage school building constructed during his father's administration and another building donated during his mother's tenure under the National Housing Authority.
Angara acknowledged the role of community volunteers and the Department of Labor and Employment's TUPAD program, which employed approximately 240,000 workers for the nationwide Brigada Eskwela campaign, in facilitating classroom repairs.
