DepEd: Decrease in enrollment this year is a ‘reasonable anticipation’

A possible decrease in enrollment is being anticipated by the Department of Education (DepEd) this coming school year (SY) 20202021 amid the continued threat of the COVID-19 pandemic.

DepEd Undersecretary and spokesman lawyer Nepomuceno Malaluan said the formal school opening for SY 2020-2021 has been set on August 24. It was delayed from the usual June opening to give the schools, teachers, and learners time to prepare and adjust to the “new normal” in education.

In response to the challenges in education amid the COVID-19 crisis, DepEd developed a Basic Education Learning Continuity Plan (BE-LCP) to “provide guidance to the department on how to deliver education in this time of crisis while ensuring the health, safety, and welfare of all learners, teachers, and personnel.”

“At the end of the day, if we are not able to convince the parents and learners [on the school opening] because we are also anticipating that things will not be normal, the participation rate that we usually have might be affected,” he said.

After DepEd announced its planned school opening in August, many stakeholders, particularly parents and guardians, have publicly expressed reservations, noting that they might consider not sending their children to school this school year.

Malaluan said the decrease in the number of enrollees is “a reasonable anticipation.”

He said a more accurate feedback will be available in the coming months especially since DepEd has set the enrollment for public schools from June 1-30. “We will know when we revalidate the enrollment,” he added.

DepEd data shows that basic education “directly accounts for nearly 30 million individuals,” not counting the ancillary services supporting the education system including transport, food, and other services.

The latest DepEd data shows there are 27,748,477 learners from Kindergarten, Grades 1-6, Grades 7-10 or Junior High School (JHS), Grades 11-12 or Senior High School (SHS) and Alternative Learning System (ALS).

There are also 900,000 teachers and personnel and 300,000 private school, teachers and personnel. DepEd said the total number of basic education population represents about 27.8 percent of the estimated 108 million Philippine population, and 20 percent higher than the total number of people employed in the services sector, the biggest employer of the country’s labor force.

Detailed enrollment guidelines to be issued

To facilitate the enrollment, Malaluan said DepEd will also issue detailed guidelines on the process. “We cannot rely on early registration data we had earlier,” he said. DepEd conducted an Early Registration

for incoming Kinder, Grades 1 to 7, and 11 learners last February to March to help both public and private schools anticipate the number of enrollees for the upcoming school year. Other grade levels are already considered pre-registered.

Malaluan said data gathered during the month-long Early Registration may not be accurate anymore. “It may not be applicable and we cannot rely on that precisely because the condition or situation when they participated in the Early Registration may be different now. So we’re discussing and making plans related to this,” he added.

As per DepEd, schools shall conduct enrollment in June for all learners intending to attend SY 2020-2021 given that “circumstances have changed substantially.” The enrollees and/or their parents/guardians shall provide information through an enrollment and survey form intended to collect important information to consider for the adoption of the relevant learning delivery strategies and modalities and to further provide support to learners for the school year.

“The enrollment process shall use online or other innovative ways to adhere to social distancing protocols,” DepEd said.

Malaluan said DepEd is also observing the outcome of the relaxed community quarantine very closely. “I think the first litmus test of our LCP would be how orderly we will be able to facilitate the enrollment of the students in June,” he said.

DepEd has already issued the School Calendar for SY 2020-2021. “We will make the necessary announcement on how will this be done and we will issue more detailed enrollment guidelines,” Malaluan explained.

Since local situations may vary, Malaluan noted that DepEd allows the regional offices to plan the enrollment process and ensure that it will be done in a “safe and orderly” manner. “We have great confidence in the ability of our field to meet the challenges on the ground,” he said.

Malaluan said DepEd, in various circumstances such as elections and calamities, has always been able to meet meet the challenges on the ground. “This [COVID-19] is a greater challenge, but at the same time, we feel that we have the capacity to meet the challenges of this time,” he added.