At least 243,000 Filipinos will be deployed under the government’s Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers program to help prepare public schools for the opening of classes, Executive Secretary Ralph Recto said.
The workers will be assigned to public schools nationwide from June 1 to 5 as part of Brigada Eskwela and will each receive P5,000 in compensation for school preparation and improvement work.
Recto said the program serves two goals: helping schools become ready for students while giving temporary income support to families.
“Isa ito sa mga programang tumatama ng dalawang mahalagang layunin sa isang hakbang. Habang naghahanda tayo ng mas maayos at mas ligtas na mga paaralan para sa ating mga estudyante, nabibigyan din natin ng trabaho at kita ang kanilang mga magulang at mga kamag-anak,” Recto said.
“This means there will be food on the table, money for school supplies, allowance for children, and classrooms ready for the opening of classes,” he added.
The TUPAD beneficiaries will help clean classrooms, manage waste, haul furniture and learning materials, clear vegetation, landscape school grounds, repaint facilities, and carry out other non-technical campus improvement work.
The deployment will cover 5,000 priority schools, including large, mega, and geographically isolated and disadvantaged area schools in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.
At the Bagong Silangan High School in Quezon City, Social Welfare Secretary Rex Gatchalian led a Brigada Eskwela activity where parents from the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program joined cleanup and classroom preparation efforts ahead of the June 8 school opening.
Gatchalian, joined by DSWD officials and barangay leaders, also met with 4Ps parent-beneficiaries and school stakeholders to check on students’ preparations for the start of classes.
In Malacañang, Palace Press Officer Claire Castro said President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ordered government agencies led by the Department of Education to carry out the 2026 National Oplan Balik Eskwela to ensure a safe, orderly, and well-prepared school opening.
Castro said at least 16 government agencies and utility partners are working with DepEd to support school logistics, safety, health, transportation, electricity, water supply, connectivity, traffic management, and consumer protection.
Among the agencies involved are the Department of the Interior and Local Government, Philippine National Police, Department of Health, Metropolitan Manila Development Authority, Department of Energy, Department of Trade and Industry, Department of Transportation, Department of Information and Communications Technology, National Telecommunications Commission, Department of Public Works and Highways, Department of Social Welfare and Development, National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, and Presidential Communications Office.
Meralco and the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System will also help ensure continuous electricity and water supply in schools.
Castro said the whole-of-government effort is meant to help schools, students, parents, and communities prepare for the formal start of classes on June 8.