Education Secretary Leonor Briones on Thursday expressed confidence that the Department of Education is ready to resume classes on Aug. 24.
She noted the strong support and trust coming from parents, students, and other education stakeholders.
Briones, speaking during the virtual press briefing of presidential spokesman Harry Roque, said that the current enrollment figures have surpassed the 80 percent adjusted enrollment target this school year.
Less than two weeks before the new school year, Briones said that there are more than 23.2 million students currently enrolled in both public and private schools nationwide.
This figure, she said, would translate to at least 46 million parents who allowed their children to attend classes this school year using blended and distance learning approaches.
“This is a clear manifestation of trust among our learners and their parents that DepEd can deliver safe learning opportunities even in the time of COVID-19,” she said.
Based on the DepEd national enrollment as of Aug. 13, the total number of enrollees for School Year (SY) 2020-2021 has reached 23, 212,795 nationwide for Kindergarten to Grade 12, including those under Alternative Learning System (ALS) and non-graded learners with disabilities. This, DepEd said, is 83. 52 percent of the total enrollment in SY 2019-2020.
DepEd data showed that the current total enrollment in public schools is 21, 573, 818 which is 95.57 percent of last school year’s enrollment at 27.7 million. Meanwhile, there are 1,598,030 enrollees in private schools or 30.29 percent of the total enrollment in SY 2019-2020 at 4.4 million.
Based on the latest enrollment figures, there are 1,619,805 pupils enrolled in Kindergarten; 11,239,966 in Elementary; 7,308,610 in Junior High School (JHS); and 2,555,472 in Senior High School (SHS).
There are also 61,086 learners with disabilities who registered along with 337,856 others under the ALS program.
Even if the enrollment period has officially ended on July 15, DepEd continues to update its data.
While limited physical classes will be allowed in schools located in low risk areas starting January 2021, Briones maintained that there will be no face-to-face classes when the school year opens on Aug. 24.
“Our operations are in full momentum and are underway for the August opening of classes,” Briones said.