MANILA, Philippines – Students and parents will get assistance from the reactivated Oplan Balik Eskwela (OBE) Information and Action Center of the Department of Education (DepEd) when schools open on June 6.
Education Assistant Secretary Jesus Mateo said OBE Information and Action Centers will also be set up in the 17 DepEd regional offices.
“This is a yearly effort of DepEd to help our students and their parents get information and also make their complaints on various issues,” he said.
The OBE Command Center will remain open at the DepEd Central Office in Pasig until June 10.
Education Secretary Armin Luistro said that the focus of DepEd in school year 2011-2012 is the influx of more than 1.2 million five-year-old pupils in public kindergartens.
“The Oplan Balik Eskwela is part of our commitment to EFA (Education for All) goals,” he said.
“This project will ensure smooth opening of classes so that the school children are properly enrolled and all school children are in school on June 6, the first day of school year 2011-2012.”
Luistro said DepEd is looking into filling up the essential learning resource gaps in public schools this year.
“These shortages have been the perennial problem,” he said.
“While interventions are now in place, we cannot stop from there. We will continue to explore different avenues to make ends meet.”
Participating in the OBE Inter-Agency Task Force are the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Department of National Defense (DND), Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), Department of Health (DOH), Philippine National Police (PNP), Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA), and Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services and Administration (PAGASA).
Private corporations involved in the delivery of services for the education sector will also be invited.
Luistro urged DepEd regional directors and schools division superintendents to set up their own command centers to encourage parents and communities to bring school-aged children to public elementary and secondary schools.
“We are urging our local counterparts to do a massive door-to-door campaign at least one week before the school opening,” he said.
“We also seek partnerships with local government units, private individuals and groups and non-government organizations.
“These efforts will surely achieve a significant increase in the number of enrollees this coming school year.”
The DepEd will start the K (Kindergarten) + 12 Basic Education Curriculum (BEC) program this school year.
It will establish kindergartens in public schools nationwide.
The K+12 BEC plan seeks to make kindergarten mandatory and to add two years in the current 10-year basic education curriculum, which has only six years of elementary and four years of high school.
Under the K+12 plan, a two-year senior high school level will be added to the current four years of high school, which will become junior high school.
DepEd expects more than 22 million preschool, elementary and high school students to return to school on June 6.
Police ready for school opening
Policemen will be more visible in school zones when classes open next week.
PNP chief Director General Raul Bacalzo has ordered policemen nationwide to prevent criminals from taking advantage of the school opening.
Police must arrest drug pushers to prevent them from selling illegal drugs to students, he added.
Bacalzo said territorial police units will check the need to implement the “Pulis ko titser ko” program.
It calls for police officers to serve as teachers in areas without civilian teachers due to security concerns, he added.
Metro Manila police commander Chief Superintendent Alan Purisima has mapped out a program to ensure the safety and protection of students when they return to school on June 6.
He has designed safety measures to prevent petty thieves from victimizing students, he added. –-Rainier Allan Ronda (The Philippine Star) with Cecille Suerte Felipe
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