Education Secretary Leonor Briones expressed optimism that opening up the economy will eventually help increase the number of students in the private education sector and the Alternative Learning System (ALS) this school year.
Briones, during the pre-recorded address of President Rodrigo Duterte aired last night, gave updates on the school opening for 2020-2021 on Oct. 5. She noted that while the enrollment figures in the public school system was high, enrollments in private schools and ALS are still greatly affected.
Latest enrollment data from DepEd showed that there are 24.7 million enrollees in both public and private schools this school year. “This increases every day, the number is going up,” she said.
The 22.5 million enrollees in public school, Briones said, “practically 100 percent of last year's enrollment in spite of the pandemic.” However, she noted that enrollment in private schools is still low at 2.1 million or only 50.48% of SY 2019-2020 enrollment.
Aside from private schools, Briones said that enrollment in ALS is also lower compared to last year. Currently, there are 396,006 enrollees or 53.52% of SY 2019-2020.
“This is where we can see the connection between the economy and education because many of those without jobs can no longer afford education in private schools,” Briones said in a mix of English and Filipino.