With decreasing enrollment in private schools, group calls for ‘urgent policy intervention’ from gov’t A group of private schools on Monday, Aug. 23, called on the government to implement “policy intervention” the soonest possible time with the steady decline in enrollment.
Citing partial enrollment data from the Department of Education (DepEd), the Coordinating Council of Private Educational Associations (COCOPEA) noted that there were only 118,000 enrollees in the private basic education schools out of two million students last academic year SY 2020-2021.
READ:
https://mb.com.ph/2021/08/23/7-2-million-learners-enrolled-for-sy-2021-2022-so-far-deped/
“It may be recalled that prior to the pandemic in SY 2019-2020, the enrolment in the private basic education schools was at 4.3 million students,” COCOPEA Chairman Anthony Jose Tamayo explained.
Tamayo, who is also the President of the Philippine Association of Colleges and Universities (PACU), added that the latest enrollment data from DepEd “emphasizes how the pandemic has affected the viability of private educational institutions and the urgency of a policy intervention from the government.”
With the few remaining days in the legislative calendar and the number of urgent measures lined up in Congress, Tamayo noted that “we are racing against time to have the law enacted in this 18th Congress.”
He added this legislative policy intervention --- once enacted into law --- will provide the “needed stability to education not only in this time of pandemic but also for generations to come, as it aligns with all existing and future initiatives to revive our battered economy.”
COCOPEA, an umbrella organization representing 2,500 schools nationwide, has been calling for the passage of Senate Bill No. 2272 which, it said in a statement issued on Aug. 9, would be “crucial for the survival” of learning institutions.
READ:
https://mb.com.ph/2021/08/09/race-against-time-private-schools-ask-for-senate-intervention-to-avert-looming-collapse/
Meanwhile, COCOPEA also expressed hope for the “prompt action” of the Senate on the measure as declared by Senator Pia Cayetano, the Chair of the Senate Ways and Means Committee, as it “now shifts the legislative process” from the lower House to the Senate.