OVER 20 million learners have registered on the last day of enrollment nationwide, the Department of Education (DepEd) said on Wednesday.
As of 8 a.m. of July 15—the last day of enrollment—a total of 20,220,507 learners or 72.7 percent of last year’s 27.7-million student population have already enrolled for School Year 2020-2021.
Of the total number of enrollees, 1,050,437 students enrolled in public schools across the country.
Education Undersecretary Jesus Mateo said that late enrollees in the public schools would still be accepted until last week of September based on Department Order (DO) 13 s. 2018.
Mateo quoted the order: “Schools may accept late enrollees provided that the learner will be able to meet 80 percent of the prescribed number of school days for each school year and the quarterly requirement to pass the grade level as governed by the latest existing applicable DepEd issuances.”
Exodus from private schools
Meanwhile, Mateo also said that over 320,000 learners have transferred to public elementary and high schools from private schools, state universities and colleges (SUCs) or local universities and colleges (LUCs) offering basic education.
“Transferees from private and SUCs/LUCs to public schools [are] 323,524—of which 300,877 [came] from private schools,” Mateo said.
Earlier, Education Secretary Leonor Magtolis Briones assured the public they are doing everything to be ready by August 24 with the help of concerned government agencies, the private sector and nongovernment organizations.
“Every day there’s a challenge, every day an answer has to be found, every day there’s a new development, every day there is a new question and the department has responded heroically and we are most grateful to each and every one of them,” Briones said, as she thanked her hardworking officials.
She also expressed gratitude to those who have given their trust to the department.
“It’s a question of trust: do you think, do you believe that we can deliver? We believe that we can deliver, thank you for believing along with us. Thank you,” the DepEd chief said.
Image credits: AP/Aaron Favila