DepEd records 85 percent of enrollees from previous school year

by Cathrine Gonzales, Philippine Daily Inquirer, 24 Aug 2020

MANILA, Philippines — Over 23.6 million learners have so far enrolled for School Year 2020 to 2021, which the Department of Education said composed 85 percent of last year’s enrollment.

Data from DepEd as of Monday morning showed that a total of 23,643,113 learners have enrolled in public and private schools, as well as in state and local universities and colleges offering senior high school education for the upcoming school year.

“[A total of] 23.6 million. That’s already 85 percent of last year’s enrollment despite COVID-19, in spite of the downturn of the economy, despite all the challenges that we are all facing,” Education Secretary Leonor Briones told a press briefing.

Of this number, a total of 21,813,184 have enrolled in public schools.

Briones said this figure is 96.63 percent of enrollees in public schools in the previous school year.

She added that enrollment in private schools has also “picked up” probably due to the reopening of the economy, especially in Metro Manila and Calabarzon.

Data from DepEd also showed a total of 1,785,323 learners have enrolled in private schools.

“Sa tingin natin baka unti-unti na ring babalik ang ating mga estudyante na pumipili ng private schools para sa kanilang edukasyon,” said Briones.

(We think that the number of students who choose private schools for their education may increase.)

According to the DepEd chief, the current enrollment for private schools is 41.47 percent of enrollment for the previous school year.

‘Yung pagmigrate ng learners from private sector schools to public sector schools ay mukhang kumakalma na dahil nabubuksan na ang ating ekonomiya,” she also said.

(The migration of learners from private sector schools to public sector schools is slowly decreasing because the economy is now being reopened.)

DepEd previously targeted to record 80 percent of enrollees from last year’s 27.85 million registered students. The education department set a lower target due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The opening of classes in public schools was earlier moved from the original date of August 24 to October 5. Private schools were allowed to resume classes before the latter date.

JE