A total of 84,600 school bags complete with school supplies were distributed to children enrolled in Kinder to Grade 6 in all public schools in the city through the annual Balik Eskwela project as part of the 360 Education Investment Program.
The five-day distribution activity that started on May 22, as supervised by the office of Coun. Lorie Natividad – Borja, Committee on Education chairman in cooperation with the City Social Welfare and Development Office, underscored that these free learning materials are viewed to boost students’ morale and performance in school.
Records from the office of Councilor Borja showed that the school supplies subsidies were distributed based on every level’s needs.
Kinder
For 10,205 Kinder pupils, each supply tally of five pieces of writing notebooks, kinder book, a pencil case, three pieces of Mongol pencils, a double sharpener, pad paper, a tumbler, a lunch box and a back pack bag.
Grades 1 and 2
Each of the 13,680 grade one and 12,830 grade two pupils received seven pieces of writing notebooks, a lunch box, a tumbler, pad paper, double sharpener, three pieces of Mongol pencils, a pencil case, and a back pack bag.
Grades 3, 4, 5 and 6
Grades 3, 4, 5 and 6 pupils received a back pack bag, a pencil case, two pieces of Mongol pencils, two pieces of Panda ballpens, double sharpener, pad paper, a tumbler, a lunch box, Mathematics and English worktext books, six pieces of composition notebooks for grade 3 while seven pieces of composition notebooks for grades 4, 5 and 6.
“Walang bata sa Valenzuela na papasok sa eskwelahan na walang gamit,” (“No kid in Valenzuela shall go to school without school supplies”,) Mayor REX said during the distribution in one of the 41 elementary public schools in the city.
“The local government is continuously looking after the welfare of its students because it believes that these young people are the future of Valenzuela City,” he said.
Meanwhile, Councilor Borja said, “Mula sa mga masusustansyang pagkain na ibinibigay ng ating feeding program sa araw-araw, mga modernong pasilidad, mga bagong klasrum at paaralan, mga kagamitan sa pag-aaral, pinagbuting kurikulum mula sa ating Summer Reading Camp, pati ang mga nanay-teacher ay atin pong binigyan ng bahagi para sa ikauunlad ng pag-aaral ng ating mga anak.”
Apart from the said city projects and programs for education, the city government also held the second Teachers’ Camp, a week of training during the summer to allow teachers to update on their mentoring skills and to learn new classroom strategies.
“Inaasahan naming magiging inspirasyon ninyo ito para mag-aral kayong mabuti, at maging bahagi kayo sa pagpapaunlad ng ating siyudad at ng bansa,” (“We hope that these will inspire you to study harder to eventually play parts in the progress of the city and the country,” Mayor REX told the students.