SAN JOSE DE BUENAVISTA, Antique -- The Department of Education (DepEd) here has urged parents to make sure their school-age children regularly attend their classes.
As the new school year opens on Monday, Dr. Victor de Gracia, DepEd Schools Division of Antique officer-in-charge superintendent and OIC-assistant director of DepEd 6 (Western Visayas), said they are encouraging parents to ensure that their children avail of the free education.
“I would like to remind the parents that education in public schools is free,” de Gracia said in an interview Friday.
He noted that schools under the DepEd Schools Division of Antique are ready as teachers have undergone their in-service training and classrooms have been prepared after last week's Brigada Eskwela.
DepEd-Antique has a projected enrollment of 12,926 for both elementary and secondary public schools.
Under DepEd-Antique are 480 elementary schools with 3,926 teachers, and 57 secondary schools.
De Gracia said they will put up help desks in schools to assist students and their parents.
He also reminded school principals and teachers that they should not collect any fee from the parents or students.
“There will be no collection of fees,” de Gracia said, lamenting local media reports that a grandmother had complained about the collection of fees for Brigada Eskwela since the program only relies on the spirit of volunteerism. (PNA)
