A week before classes in public schools formally start on Oct. 5, the Department of Education said Monday that at least three million students have yet to enroll for the School Year (SY) 2020-2021.
DepEd Undersecretary for Planning Jesus Mateo, during the virtual “Handang Isip, Handa Bukas” presser, said that around two to three million students are considered “missing” based on the current enrollment data for the upcoming school year.
“If we are to compare from last year’s enrollment, there are still two or close to three million who have yet to enroll,” Mateo said.
As of Sept. 28, DepEd national enrollment data showed that enrollment in public and private schools on the basic education level has reached 24.66 million or 88.80 percent of the enrollment in SY 2019-2020 at 27.7 million.
DepEd said of this number, 22.46 million are enrolled in public schools, comprising 99.50 percent of last school year’s enrollment. In private schools, there are 2.14 million enrollees or 49.90 percent of SY 2019-2020.
“What we’re doing right now is that we’re still campaigning – with the help of local government units – to convince the parents to enroll their children,” Mateo, “Oplan: Balik Eskwela” chairman, explained.
As of Sept. 28, DepEd data showed that there are 398, 981 students who have transferred from private to public schools this upcoming school year – 244, 139 in elementary; 106, 160 in Junior High School (JHS); 42, 085 in Senior High School (SHS), and 6, 597 non-graded learners with disabilities.
Mateo said that the current enrollment for SY 2020-2021 is “evidence” that millions of parents were “convinced with the menu of options to ensure learning continuity.”