By Danny Estacio
CITY OF STO. TOMAS CITY, Batangas, Philippines – About 41,000 incoming students will ensure a conducive learning space after the city government and the Department of Education (DepEd) launched a citywide Brigada Eskwela, said City Mayor Arth Jhun Aguilar Marasigan on Monday.
Marasigan ensured conducive classrooms for 41,025 registered students for the school year 2026-2027
More than 1,500 city hall employees were deployed for the early execution of “Brigada Eskwela” of the city’s Schools Division Office (SDO) on May 28.
As part of the city’s alternative work arrangement where city hall personnel were tasked to do community work to stay productive, dispatched local government staff were stationed in the city’s 33 public schools; 27 elementary schools, four junior high schools, an integrated school, and a senior high school, with 746 classrooms to help clean education premises and teaching corners.
Marasigan said that the importance of a solid alliance between the city officials, educators, and stakeholders in shaping the future of Tomasino students.
He is confident that the local government’s initiative will surely ignite the already established teamwork into a much stronger partnership, better participation, and solidarity among duty-bearers, stakeholders, and the community.
He also pledges to a yearly conduct of the LGU-initiated city-wide “Brigada Eskwela” program.
Marasigan said securing proper education for young learners is one of his priorities, ensuring no one is denied equitable access to learning opportunities and formulating policies to guarantee quality education for young Tomasinos.
School Divisions Office Head Dr. Neil G. Angeles, expressed his sincere appreciation and gratitude to the local government for its unwavering support in providing school essentials to address education challenges.
Aside from school clean-up operations, city hall employees simultaneously conduct mentorship and guided reading sessions to advance literacy development and encourage students to make reading part of their daily routine – a habit-forming initiative.
The City of Sto. Tomas Division of City Schools ranked number 1 in the Comprehensive Rapid Literacy Assessment (CRLA) conducted at the beginning of SY 2025-2026, posting the lowest percentage of 23.43% of struggling readers, a significant milestone that cannot be achieved without the help of the local government, Angeles added.
