Orderly opening

IT was an orderly first day of school, yesterday, the Department of Education (Deped 11) reported.

Deped 11 spokesperson Jenielito Atillo said the opening of classes from Kinder to Senior High School went well in both public and private schools.

Atillo said usual problems such as the ongoing enrollment in some schools and the lack of other school facilities were attended well.

"If we are going to base it on our schedule, registration or enrolment is over. But we also had a policy to allow a week extension on enrollment para didto sa muhabol (for late registrants)," Atillo said.

Atillo said some public schools in the region have a minimal increase in enrollees from the primary to secondary level as some parents find tuition and other fees in private schools too expensive.

Deped has been mandated to accept all students in their institutions despite the problem on the number of students per class, Atillo said.

Record obtained from Deped 11 showed that the ideal class size in public

schools for kindergarten must be 25 students, maximum 30; Grades 1 to 3 must be 30 to 35; Grades 4 to 6 must be 40-45.

Ideal class size for junior high school and senior high school, according to him, should be 40 to 45 students. As to the Special Education (Sped) Schools in the region, it should be one teacher to 15 students per class only.

"As to private schools, we hope they will follow the same ideal class sizes in public schools, but they are actually given the liberty to determine pila ra ilang kaya (how many they can accommodate). Usually, they settle to particular number of students," he said.

Deped 11 earlier noted 1.35 million students from kindergarten to senior high school. Of the total students, who probably reported to their class yesterday, 1.16 million go to public schools and 196,298 go to private schools.