By Merlina Hernando-Malipot
An official of the Department of Education (DepEd) on Monday confirmed that “physical retrieval and submission” of enrollment and survey forms will be allowed in public schools starting this week.
DepEd Undersecretary and Spokesperson Atty. Nepomuceno Malaluan (PNA / MANILA BULLETIN)
As the registration period continues in its third week, DepEd Undersecretary and spokesman Atty. Nepomuceno Malaluan said that “physical” enrollment will be allowed starting Tuesday, June 16, for those who were not able to register via remote or online enrollment which started on June 1.
“Physical retrieval and submission of enrollment and survey forms will be allowed starting tomorrow (June 16), but remote will go on simultaneously,” Malaluan told the Manila Bulletin.
For the first time, DepEd is implementing a “remote enrollment” system nationwide wherein the process of registering learners for the incoming School Year (SY) 2020-2021 can be conducted without face-to-face interaction amid the threat of COVID-19.
Schools were directed to conduct enrollment from June 1–30, 2020 for all learners intending to attend SY 2020-2021 - including those who enrolled during the early registration period in February, 2020.
As indicated in the enrollment guidelines issued earlier, “no face-to-face registration” will be allowed during the first two weeks of June, thus, local DepEd officials were directed to “exhaust all possible means” to conduct remote enrollment. Unless otherwise necessary, DepEd said that “any form of physical submission of enrollment data” shall be done in the third week of the enrollment period in coordination with the local government units (LGUs).
DepEd said that private schools are also covered by the enrollment policy set by the agency.
Enrollment for the coming SY
As of June 15, DepEd national enrollment data for SY 2020-2021 showed that there are 15, 654, 795 learners nationwide who have registered using remote or virtual enrollment systems for both public and private schools across all basic education levels. Of this number, 10, 319, 505 learners have enrolled in public schools and 329, 656 registered in private schools.
DepEd’s national enrollment data covers public and private schools as well as State Universities and Colleges (SUCs) and Local Universities and Colleges (LUCs) and learners across all basic education level including Kindergarten, Elementary or Grades 1 to 6, Junior High School (JHS) or Grades 7 to 10, and Senior High School (SHS) or Grades 11 and 12. Also included are non-graded learners with disabilities and those under the Alternative Learning System (ALS) program.
Latest data from DepEd showed that there are 618, 572 learners enrolled in Kindergarten; 5, 192, 799 in Elementary; 3, 516, 489 in JHS; and 1,175, 900 in SHS. There are also 33, 061 non-graded learners with disabilities who registered along with 117, 974 under the ALS program.
The highest number of enrollees was recorded in Region IV-A with 1, 804, 175, followed by the National Capital Region (NCR) with 1, 450, 388, and Region III with 1, 103, 213 which covers Kinder to SHS learners, including ALS and non-graded learners with disabilities.
Malaluan said that DepEd did not set a specific target for enrollment this SY 2020-2021 amid the public health situation. “We have no specific target because of changed conditions,” he explained. “We are using last year's enrollment as benchmark or comparator, to gauge how many decided to proceed or opt out of this SY,” he added.
In School Year 2019-2020, enrollment data provided by DepEd’s Education Management Information System Division-Planning Service showed that the total number of enrollment in all sectors and level of education was 27, 790, 114 for both formal and informal systems.
Of this number, 27, 030, 391 are learners from Kinder to Grade 12 and 759, 723 are in the ALS program. There were 22, 572, 923 enrollees in public schools and 4, 203, 676 in private schools last school year.
Based on its Basic Education -Learning Continuity Plan (BE-LCP), the opening of classes for basic education is scheduled to formally start on August 24, 2020, and will end on April 30, 2021. The opening of classes in private schools, DepEd said, will be allowed within the period provided by law and their submitted learning continuity plan.
This coming SY, DepEd said that distance learning will be a major component of learning delivery. Earlier, DepEd said that it will comply with the directive of President Duterte to postpone the face-to-face conduct of classes without the vaccine against COVID-19.
The DepEd will adopt various learning delivery options such as blended/distance learnings and other modes of delivery depending on the local COVID Risk Severity Classification and compliance with minimum health standards.