Thirteen percent or an estimated 4.4 million school-aged Filipinos are currently not enrolled in school, according to the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey results released on Wednesday, Feb. 24.
In the nationwide survey conducted among 1,500 respondents on Nov. 21-25, 2020, SWS found 87 percent of five- to 20-year-old Filipinos (29.8 million) are currently enrolled in school, while 13 percent are not enrolled at the time of the survey.
Among those currently enrolled, SWS said 7 percent (estimated 2.1 million) are in pre-primary, 45 percent (estimated 13.3 million) are in elementary, 29 percent (estimated 8.6 million) are in junior high school, 13 percent (estimated 3.9 million) are in senior high school, and 6 percent (estimated 1.9 million) are in college.
However, the percentage of school-aged children who are currently not enrolled is 15 percent among the five to six years old household members.
It dipped to three (3) percent and four (4) percent among seven to 11 years old and 12 to 15 years old, respectively, but rose to 13 percent among 16 to 17 years old.
Meanwhile, 40 percent of 18 to 20 years old are currently not enrolled.
SWS said the percentage of currently enrolled school-aged Filipinos is 88 percent in the Visayas, 87 percent in balance Luzon, and 86 percent each in Mindanao and Metro Manila.
Moreover, the survey found that most of the currently enrolled school-aged Filipinos are in elementary.
Across areas, the percentage of school-aged Filipinos currently enrolled in elementary is highest in the Visayas (48 percent), followed by balance Luzon (44 percent), Mindanao (44 percent), and Metro Manila (41 percent).
SWS said the percentage of currently enrolled household members ranged from 28 percent to 30 percent in junior high school, 11 percent to 14 percent in senior high school, five (5) percent to 10 percent in college, and six (6) percent to nine (9) percent in pre-primary.
For the school year 2020-2021, the Department of Education (DepEd) required schools to implement any or a combination of the following learning delivery modalities, depending on the COVID-19 restrictions and the particular context of learners in the school or locality: modular distance learning (MDL) using printed or digital self-learning modules, online distance learning (ODL) using the Internet for downloading learning materials and uploading homework, TV/radio-based instruction to those who have no internet connectivity, and traditional face-to-face (F2F) learning where both students and teachers are physically present in the classroom, with proper risk assessment and health protocols in place.
Blended learning refers to the combination of these learning modalities.
The SWS survey found 80 percent (estimated 23.8 million) of currently enrolled school-aged household members participating in purely MDL, 14 percent (estimated 4.3 million) in purely ODL, 1 percent (estimated 302,000) in purely traditional face-to-face learning, 0.1 percent (estimated 38,000) in purely TV/radio-based instruction, and 4 percent in blended learning, consisting of 4 percent (estimated 1.2 million) MDL and ODL, and 0.6 percent (estimated 178,000) F2F and MDL.
SWS further noted that participation in purely MDL is highest among elementary students (90 percent), followed by pre-primary students (87 percent), junior high school students (82 percent), senior high school students (64 percent), and college students (27 percent).
Meanwhile, participation in purely ODL is highest among college students (65 percent), followed by senior high school students (25 percent), junior high school students (13 percent), and elementary and pre-primary students (6 percent each).
Participation in purely traditional face-to-face learning is five (5) percent among pre-primary students, two (2) percent among senior high school students, one (1) percent among college students, one (1) percent among elementary students, and 0.2 percent among junior high school students.
Moreover, participation in blended learning is highest among senior high school students (8 percent), followed by college students (6 percent), junior high school students (5 percent), elementary students (3 percent), and pre-primary students (2 percent).
Likewise, participation in purely MDL is most common in the Visayas (90 percent), Mindanao (89 percent), and balance Luzon (82 percent).
Participation in purely MDL (37 percent) and purely ODL (37 percent) is equally most common in Metro Manila.
However, participation in blended learning is 24 percent in Metro Manila, compared to two (2) percent each in balance Luzon and Mindanao, and one (1) percent in the Visayas.