PRESIDENT Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. and Education Secretary Sonny Angara on Tuesday inspected the newly installed closed-circuit television (CCTV) network at the Kapitbahayan Elementary School in Navotas City to ensure campus security ahead of the June 8 school opening.

The inspection, which marked the kickoff of this year’s Brigada Eskwela, focused on the Department of Education’s (DepEd) broader security program utilizing CCTV technology to safeguard students against bullying, vandalism and unauthorized campus entry.

“Malaking bagay na kasama natin si Pangulong Bongbong Marcos para makita na kapag ligtas ang paaralan dahil sa mga CCTV, mas nakatutok ang mga bata sa pag-aaral (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),” Angara said.

“Pinagsama natin ang seguridad at ang mga inisyatiba tulad ng Reading Nooks para matiyak na ang ating mga mag-aaral ay hindi lang ligtas, kundi talagang natututo at nahuhubog ang kakayahan sa pagbasa (We have combined security measures with initiatives like Reading Nooks to ensure that our students are not only safe but are genuinely learning and developing their reading skills),” he added.

Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Rex Gatchalian joined Marcos and Angara in touring the campus, where volunteers, teachers and parents have mobilized for cleanup and maintenance operations.

Aside from security infrastructure, the officials inspected the school’s new Reading Nook, a DepEd project aimed at developing the literacy skills of kindergarten to Grade 3 students using age-appropriate books.

The reading initiative works in partnership with the DSWD’s Tara, Basa! Tutoring Program, which deploys college students to tutor elementary learners who are struggling to read.

According to school data, all 823 students who enrolled in the Academic Recovery and Accessible Learning (ARAL) program at the start of the previous school year successfully transitioned out of the struggling level in reading and mathematics by the end of the term, bypassing the need for a summer program.

Nationwide, the DepEd’s ARAL Program has reduced the number of struggling learners from 6.7 million to 2.2 million.

During the campus tour, Marcos was also shown a heritage school building constructed during the administration of his father, the late President Ferdinand E. Marcos Sr., and another building donated during the tenure of his mother, former First Lady Imelda R. Marcos, under the National Housing Authority.

Angara credited the progress of classroom repairs to community volunteers and the Department of Labor and Employment’s Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged Workers or TUPAD program, which deployed around 240,000 workers for the nationwide Brigada Eskwela campaign. (PNA)