Enrolment in Baguio drops by 2% in 2019

THE DEPARTMENT of Education–Division of City Schools disclosed the enrolment in the public and private elementary and high schools in the city dropped by 2 percent compared to the enrolment data gathered by the agency last year.

City Schools Division Superintendent Marie Carolyn Verano disclosed there were a total of 56,658 enrolees in the 35 public elementary and 22 high schools in the different parts of the city while there were some 35,246 enrollees in the various private elementary and high schools in the city for schoolyear 2019-2020.

She explained the decrease in the enrolment in both the public and private education institutions in the city reflects the reported decrease in the population among the young population due to the change in the generations of people living in the city.

The education official claimed while there was a slight drop in the enrolment in the public and private basic education institutions in the city for the current year, there was an increase in the number of classrooms provided by the government’s investments on the construction of school buildings and classrooms in the different parts of the country to help decongest heavily populated schools to provide a conducive learning environment for the youth.

On the other hand, Verano reported Baguio City performed well in the National Achievement Test (NAT) among both Grade 6 and Grade 10 students with Grade 6 pupils from the city garnering a passing rate of 50.46 percent while Grade 10 students got a passing rate of over 50 percent, both are above the national passing rates.

Of the five major subjects, both the Grade 6 and Grade 10 examinees excelled in Pilipino, English and Araling Panlipunan but did not perform well in the Math and Science subjects, thus, the need for the city education officials to review their strategies to enhance the interest of the pupils and the

students in learning both subjects.

Earlier, the government embarked on the strengthening of its existing strategies in teaching the Math and Science subjects to the pupils and students in the basic education program to ensure graduates are ready confront the realities in life where Math and Science are needed, both subjects having been identified by education experts helpful in molding productive citizens among today’s youth.

While pupils and students in the city did not meet the projected passing percentage in the previously concluded NAT, education officials pointed out appropriate teaching strategies will be introduced to innovate current teaching methods to improve the learning environment and thus improve the performance of pupils and students in the future conduct of national examinations.

She said the accomplishment of pupils and students in the NAT serves as a gauge of the learning environment and thus, the need to enhance this aspect for future examinees to be able to perform well.