The Department of Education (DepEd) on Monday said that it has reached over 90% of last school year’s total enrollment with 25 million students currently enrolled across all basic education levels.
DepEd national enrollment data as of Oct. 26 showed that there are 25.03 million students enrolled for School Year (SY) 2020-2021 which formally opened on Oct. 5. This enrollment figure, DepEd said, covers both public and private schools and comprises 90.14 percent of SY 2019-2020 turnout at 27.7 million.
In the public school system, DepEd said that the enrollment has reached 22.75 million - exceeding SY 2019-2020 enrollment at 22.5 million. Enrollment in private schools, DepEd explained, is also picking up with 2.22 million enrollees or 51.66% of last school year’s enrollment turnout.
During the virtual press briefing on Oct. 23, Education Secretary Leonor Briones reiterated that the DepEd has already exceeded its target number of enrollees for this school year.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Briones said that DepEd has adjusted its enrollment target for SY 2020-2021. However, she noted that the recent figures have exceeded 80 percent adjusted number which was assigned by the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA).
“As the economy opens up, the migration from public to private schools have slowed down, meaning the parents are sending their children back to private schools,” Briones said. “The enrollment in our Alternative Learning System (ALS) - whose enrollees are working students - is also increasing,” she added.
Currently, DepEd data showed that there are 1.8 million enrollees in Kindergarten; 11.9 million in Elementary; 7.9 million in Junior High School (JHS); and 2.8 million in Senior High School (SHS). A total of 73, 195 non-graded learners with disabilities are also enrolled along with 405, 402 students under the ALS program.
DepEd latest data showed that highest numbers of enrollees for this SY are from Region IV-A (Calabarzon) with 3.4 million followed by National Capital Region (NCR) with 2.6 million and Region III (Central Luzon) with 2.5 million.
Asked about the initiatives of DepEd on the remaining 2.6 learners that have yet to enroll, DepEd Undersecretary for Curriculum and Instruction Diosdado San Antonio said that there are programs for them. “Aside from the ALS, we also have Flexible Learning Options (FLOs),” he added.
DepEd reminded that late enrollees can still remotely register and will be accepted in public schools until November 2020.