Early registration for public schools starts

MANILA, Philippines — Early registration for incoming public school students will begin on Saturday, according to the Department of Education (DepEd).

Education Secretary Leonor Briones said registration desks will be established in public schools nationwide to accept new students for school year 2019-2020.

Only incoming students in the kindergarten and grades one, seven and 11 are covered by the early registration as the rest are already considered pre-registered.

Briones issued last year the guidelines setting the early registration period starting the last Saturday of January until the last Friday of February. 

It will be from Jan. 26 to Feb. 22 this year.

In the guidelines, Briones directed local school officials to establish early registration desks in every school and assign individuals who will handle the registration to ensure that all children are registered.

In areas without schools but may have enrollees, the secretary said a focal person should be designated to communicate with local officials for the purpose of conducting early registration in barangay halls.

Schools were also encouraged to undertake house-to-house campaigns to reach all school-age children in their respective communities.

The DepEd said the early registration also aims to locate out-of-school children and the youth, including those who have disabilities, living in off-grid communities, displaced due to disasters and the stateless or undocumented.

“Registration of school children who were identified during child-finding activities shall be conducted by schools division offices in coordination with the local social worker of the Department of Social Welfare and Development,” it added.

Open to all

In the guidelines, Briones reminded officials that all school-age children should be allowed access to basic education.

“The rules and standards prescribed by this policy uphold the right of learners to enroll in public schools upon presentation of minimum documentary requirements, and to be provided with accessible, relevant, quality and liberating education,” she said.

Minimum documentary requirements include birth certificate and proof of completion of previous grade level for enrollees in grade one and above.

Parents and guardians may submit the documents until Aug. 31 if these are not available during the early registration period.

Teachers begin receiving performance bonus 

Meanwhile, public school teachers have started receiving their performance-based bonus (PBB) for 2017, according to the DepEd.

The DepEd said its regional office in Region III has started releasing the PBB of school-based personnel.

On the other hand, the schools’ division offices in Metro Manila and Regions 4-A, 11 and 12 have already received their special allotment release order from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).

Release orders are also being processed for Regions 4-B, 5 and 7.

“As for the remaining DepEd regional offices, their documentary requirements are undergoing the evaluation of the DBM central office. Once cleared, these shall also be endorsed to the respective DBM regional offices for release of funds,” the agency said.

Under the PBB system, government employees will receive bonuses based on the assessment of their respective performances.

The release of the PBB for DepEd employees often takes months to process due to the sheer volume of documents that involve some 700,000 public school teachers nationwide.