DepEd looks to meet enrollment goal for new school year
MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Education on Tuesday said it is hopeful it will meet its target number of enrollees for the new school year, but acknowledged economic factors on families that could affect that goal.
Education officials told a briefing they look to match last year's figure of 26 million students under distance learning during the coronavirus pandemic.
"But we also know there is a direct relation on the status of enrollment numbers relative also to the state of the economy," Secretary Leonor Briones said in Filipino.
DepEd figures showed there are now 7.91 million students enrolled as of August 24. Broken down, that's 3.18 million in public schools, and 164,022 in private institutions.
Those in Calabarzon lead with the most number of enrollees at 1.30 million, followed by those in Metro Manila at 760,915, and Central Luzon with 753,106.
The agency has admitted enrollment in private schools in 2020 went down significantly, something Briones said could improve along with the economy.
"If our economy improves and also the employment situation especially in Metro Manila, there will also be better turnout in the private sector," she added still in Filipino.
Undersecretary Nepomuceno Malaluan, DepEd chief of staff, said Briones's directive is to ramp up efforts to improve enrollment.
That, he added, includes tapping former class advisers to reach out to parents and encourage them to sign up their children for the new school year.
"We urge parents not to wait for last minute," Malaluan said in Filipino. "We have also provided various means for enrolling."
Plans unclear for out-of-school youth
Figures in 2020 showed there were about 1.13 million children who opted to forego the school year.
That had raised concern among groups that many could be left behind in a learning setup that they criticized as unaccessible.
Classes in the Philippines were carried out remotely due to COVID-19, with lessons done through online, television, radio and printed modules.
DepEd in October 2020 said it was leaving it up to schools and division offices to come up with programs for the new out-of-school youth.
But for this year, the agency's strategy to convince them to re-enroll appeared vague, at least for now.
"We are supporting economic measures," Briones said when asked. "If parents have jobs, they can continue sending their children to school, whether to public or private."
Enrollment will last until September 13. That will also be the official start of Academic Year 2021 to 2022, where in-person classes are still disallowed as the virus continues to sweep across the country.
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