Assessing Community Involvement in Promoting Brigada Eskwela at Bonliw Elementary School

Abstract

INTRODUCTION

Brigada Eskwela plays an important role in supporting the school's preparedness for the opening of classes. It seeks to encourage both the internal and external stakeholders to volunteer materials and non-material resources and services and provide an atmosphere conducive to learning. This research examines community involvement during Brigada Eskwela in Bonliw Elementary School. The specific objectives were: to identify the perception of stakeholders ofBonliw Elementary School regarding Brigada Eskwela; to identify the level of involvement of the community in Brigada Eskwela in terms of attendance and donations; to formulate plans and actions to promote full involvement of the community in Brigada Eskwela.

METHODS

The study was descriptive research set out to assess community involvement in Brigada Eskwela. The school head, teachers and staff, Parent Teacher Association, and some community members of Bonliw constituted the population for this research. Simple random sampling method was used to select the respondents of the study.

RESULTS

The data indicate that the community is much aware of the idea of Brigada Eskwela though unable to fully participate in the activity because community members are not very well informed of the whole program itself. Causes of low participation among the study population are farming activities and poor communication. The attitude towards their children's education and the teacher-community relationship is also low. The challenges of community participation in activities for the improvement of the school include lower household income.

DISCUSSIONS

The involvement of the community in Brigada Eskwela is generally low even though some attempts have already been made to reach out to all community stakeholders. The people attributed their lack of participation to farming activities and poverty among others. There are many problems confronting the people of Bonliw in their attempt to contribute to the improvement of the school. Only a few strategies have been put in place to enhance the community's participation in the improvement of the school.