STARTING next year, more than 132 public school buildings under the Department of Education (DepEd) will be provided with fire insurance.

The insurance provider – the Government Service Insurance System – aims to boost the resilience of the nation’s education infrastructure.

The total fire insurance for these public school buildings is worth P843.11 billion, and will cover fire, lightning, and natural catastrophes for a one-year period effective from January 1, 2024.

The Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) helped put together the insurance coverage, marking a pivotal step in the nation’s focus on educational infrastructure security under the National Indemnity Insurance Program (NIIP).

The NIIP, an initiative of the BTr, intends to provide adequate and comprehensive insurance protection to critical government assets such as schools, hospitals, roads, and bridges.

“With the rising frequency of natural calamities, protecting public school buildings becomes a priority of the government. Our partnership with DepEd is a step towards ensuring financial resilience in support of its MATATAG agenda,” GSIS President and General Manager Wick Veloso said.

In addition to insuring DepEd’s school buildings, the GSIS has provided a 24/7 personal accident insurance coverage for all DepEd personnel, covering death and medical expenses.

“We are committed to look after the well-being of our DepEd members by providing them with strong insurance protection,” Veloso said.

Still on the education front, Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Rex Gatchalian said the agency is ready to collaborate with DepEd to support the latter’s learning program geared toward the reduction of illiteracy in the country.

Gatchalian made the remarks following the completion of the pilot implementation of the DSWD’s “Tara, Basa! (Let’s Read) Tutoring Program” at the Rizal High School in Pasig City recently.

He said Pasig Lone District Rep. Roman Romulo, chair of the House Committee on Basic Education and Culture, is supportive of the DSWD’s plan to partner with DepEd to promote literacy.

Gatchalian acknowledged the support of DepEd for the successful launch of Metro Manila-wide pilot of the Tara, Basa! Program.

Under the Tara, Basa! Tutoring Program, the DSWD helped 31,234 struggling and non-reader elementary learners and another 31,207 parents and guardians through reading and parenting sessions by trained college students.

The DSWD also provided cash-for-work (CFW) to some 6,101 second to fourth year college students from select state universities and colleges (SUCs) as well as local government-run universities in the National Capital Region belonging to low-income families in exchange for the services rendered.

Gatchalian said DSWD will continue the tutoring program in Metro Manila and expand it to the neighboring regions including the province of Bulacan as well as Marawi and Taraka in Mindanao.

The agency, he added, is also conducting capacity building for local government units (LGUs) that expressed interest in launching the tutoring program in their respective areas using the template of the DSWD.

Tara, Basa! Tutoring Program is the reformatted educational assistance of the DSWD that creates an ecosystem of learning wherein college students are capacitated and deployed as tutors to teach poor and non- or struggling readers in elementary schools and as youth development workers who conduct Nanay-Tatay reading sessions.

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