By Armando Fenequito Jr.
DAVAO CITY — The Department of Education (DepEd) Region 11 is still hoping that many children will enroll for this school year despite the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.
DepEd 11 spokesperson Jenelieto Atillo said during the One Davao on COVID-19 virtual presser that they are targeting 1,161,883 students from kindergarten to senior high school to enroll this school year.
“But we are also open to the possibility that we cannot achieve the said number because there are parents who are worried,” he said.
Atillo said when the teachers called parents for enrollment of their children, many of them did not express interest in sending their kids to school while a vaccine against the new coronavirus has not yet arrived in the country.
He said that the parents are assured there will be no face-to-face classes in August, or until there’s a vaccine. This is to ensure that learners and teachers will not be put in danger due to the ongoing COVID-19 threat.
The DepEd 11 spokesperson said he encouraged parents to still enroll their children because there are modalities being prepared that can be done even at home.
“But, at the end of the day, the parents still have the final say,” Atillo said.
Atillo said enrollment has already started on June 1 and during its first two days, they already got 60,000 enrollees coming from the seven DepEd school division offices in the region.
He said all public schools are implementing a “no face-to-face enrollment” policy, which will last up to the end of the second week of June.