BACOLOD City – Following the full implementation of face-to-face (F2F) classes by the Department of Education (DepEd), a total of 70,735 pupils from kindergarten to elementary in all public schools of this city received free school supplies from the city government.
Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez, together with Councilor Al Espino and secretary-to-the-mayor, Atty. Joseph Chiu, visited the Bacolod City National High School gymnasium on Nov. 2 and made sure that the school supplies were ready for distribution.
A ordinance passed in 2016 sought to provide free educational materials to all students in public elementary schools in the city with an allocation of, at most, P15 million.
Espino, chair of the Sangguniang Panlungsod committee on education, said this is the first time the city government has provided free school supplies after the pandemic.
This year’s total budget for the project is P13,017,302, disclosed Chiu.
Supplies include notebooks, crayons, popsicle sticks, glue, pair of scissors, pencils, and plastic envelopes for the pre-school pupils.
For grades one to six, pupils received notebooks, rulers, double crayons, pad papers, sharpeners, pencils, ballpens, and plastic envelopes.
Earlier, the city council passed a resolution urging the city government to expeditiously procure school supplies for children in all public elementary schools following the opening of classes on Aug. 22 for school year 2022-2023.
As children flock back to their respective schools, they will need their usual educational paraphernalia, which the city government has been freely supplying them annually, according to the resolution./PN
