More than 28 million students have enrolled for School Year (SY) 2022-2023, the Department of Education (DepEd) on Monday, Aug. 22, said.
There are 28,035,042 enrolled learners in public and private schools nationwide based on the latest data from DepEd.
Of this number, 23,905, 615 learners were recorded from the Enrollment Quick Count. The enrollment figure included 4,129,427 learners from the Early Registration for SY 2022-2023.
“There might be duplicates between Early Registration and Quick Counts,” DepEd said. “However, the system will detect in the beginning of school year,” it added.
For SY 2022-2023, the enrollment period in public schools started on July 25 and ended on the first day of classes, Aug. 22. DepEd held the Early Registration for this school year from March to April 2022.
The target enrollment of DepEd for SY is 28.6 million learners.
‘Victorious’ school opening
In her speech during the National School Opening Day Program (NSODP) 2022 in Dinalupihan Elementary School, Bataan, Vice President, and Education Secretary Sara Duterte declared a “victorious” school opening with the reintroduction of face-to-face classes nationwide.
“Today, we acknowledge that this is a victory for basic education,” Duterte said. “And today, we are making things possible for our children and making things possible for our country --- we will not break,” she added.
READ:
https://mb.com.ph/2022/08/22/resumption-of-face-to-face-classes-a-victory-for-filipino-students-vp-sara/
After two years of distance learning, Philippine schools once again opened their doors to the students for in-classroom learning.
“Aug. 22, 2022 is not only the day when DepEd and the entire organization opened in-person classes all over the country, in what others would describe as a bold move considering the continued threats of the pandemic and the perennial problems of the organization,” Duterte said.
READ:
https://mb.com.ph/2022/08/22/covid-19-pandemic-no-longer-an-excuse-to-keep-children-from-schools-duterte/
The school opening day, Duterte said, is also the day “when we made one of the important decisions on behalf of our children.”
The decision to go back to face-to-face classes, she added, is a “decision that will tremendously impact the future that they are charting for themselves with our guidance.”
DepEd said that 90 percent of schools that offer K to 12 program implement a learning delivery modality with an “in-person” aspect this school year.
READ:
https://mb.com.ph/2022/08/19/90-of-schools-nationwide-to-open-sy-2022-2023-with-in-person-aspect-deped/
Meanwhile, Duterte also acknowledged the shared dedication, strength, and aspirations of stakeholders in making this school year’s opening possible.
“Without a doubt, this is also a victory for all the teachers and support staff, the parents, the LGUs, other government partners, private sector and civil society advocate supporters and all education stakeholders,” Duterte said.
‘One of the worst’
While the DepEd has declared that the school opening was generally “peaceful and orderly,” teachers from the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) Philippines said this was one of the worst.
“Of all the many unprepared school openings that we have experienced, this is one of the worst,” said ACT Philippines National Chairperson Vladimer Quetua.
“It is very unfortunate and ironic as this should have been the one that we are most ready for because we are in a pandemic situation and the government had two years to prepare for this,” he added.
Based on its monitoring, ACT said that the same old problems hounded this year’s school opening --- shortage in classrooms and teachers and insufficient chairs and textbooks, among others.
“If the government fails big time in ensuring the physical and material needs of education, its readiness to implement a sound and viable education recovery plan is even more questionable,” Quetua said.
“How are we going to gauge the learning crisis? How are the teachers going to teach under blended learning? What adjustments should we do with the curriculum? What are our strategies to overturn learning poverty? These things are all still very vague,” he added.
A school opening of hurdles, risks
For the Teachers’ Dignity Coalition (TDC), the opening of this school year is filled with hurdles and risks brought about by the ongoing public health situation due to Covid-19.
Aside from the threat of the pandemic, TDC said that the school opening is “still plagued by the decades-old problem of classroom shortages.” In some parts of the country, TDC said that classrooms are still being halved to accommodate more classes while covered courts are still being converted to makeshift classrooms.
“We are still wallowing in the bloated curriculum worsened by inadequate learning materials,” TDC National Chairperson Benjo Basas said.
“Our teachers are still overburdened by redundant clerical work that worsens every day, and we still barely have the additional teachers and non-teaching staff promised by the previous administration,” he added.
TDC noted that class sizes are relatively bigger at 50-55 while some could even reach 70 making the observance of minimum health protocols impossible.
“Despite having the classes under the situation of a pandemic, health workers are not accessible in our schools,” Basas said.
Given all these challenges, TDC urged parents and students for understanding as they voice out their protest “born out of legitimate fear of what in-person learning could still bring them and their families.”
READ:
https://mb.com.ph/2022/08/22/same-old-problems-marred-the-first-day-of-classes-teachers-say/