The Department of Education (DepEd) said enrollment in private schools nationwide is starting to pick up with two million enrollees across all basic education levels.
Based on the national enrollment data as of Sept. 7, enrollment in private schools for School Year (SY) 2020-2021 has reached 2, 009, 025. Of this number, 76, 030 are in Kindergarten; 476, 359 are in Elementary; 752, 932 are in Junior High School (JHS); and 701, 222 in Senior High School (SHS).
There are also 2, 432 non-graded learners with disabilities that enrolled in private schools this school year as per DepEd enrollment data. DepEd said that the current enrollment in private schools is 46. 67 percent of the total enrollment in SY 2019-2020 at 4.3 million.
DepEd said there are 398, 915 students from private schools who have transferred to public schools as of Sept. 7. Of this number, 244, 117 are in elementary; 106, 143 are in JHS; 45, 224 are in SHS; and 6, 597 non-graded learners with disabilities.
Including those in the State Universities and Colleges (SUCs) and Local Universities and Colleges (LUCs), DepEd said that the total number of students who moved from private schools has reached 428, 941.
As of Aug. 25, DepEd said that there are 440 private schools offering basic education nationwide that will not operate this SY 2020-2021 after submitting Notices of Closure. Of this number, Region 3 (Central Luzon) has the most number of private schools that will stop their operations with 88, followed by Region 4-A (Calabarzon) with 67 schools; and National Capital Region (NCR) with 54.
The private schools that submitted notices of closure, DepEd said, were mainly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. With the downturn in the economy, DepEd explained that the enrollment in private schools are affected as well.
While the original school opening on Aug. 24 was moved, DepEd announced that private schools that have started their classes may continue their operations before Oct. 5.
Private schools, DepEd said, will be allowed to continue their operations as long as there are no in-person or face-to-face conduct of classes and they need to comply with requirements set by the agency for the implementation of distance or blended learning.