Respecting parents’decision

Arlyn P. Galay

THE Department of Education, while recognizing the issue of “lesser” learners who enrolled this school year, said it respects the decision of the parents not to send their children to school during this time of difficulty.

According to the agency, they cannot force parents to send their children to school. Nevertheless, it continues to find ways on how to help those who were not able to enroll this school year – like the Alternative Learning System (ALS), among others.

It is ideal that every child should be able to avail of basic education services, but this has become optional because of the health crisis that the country is facing.

Among the factors which led to the decrease in enrollment is the shift to distance learning and of course, the fear of contracting COVID-19.

Some of country’s officials have sounded the alarm the other day, saying that the “growing number of out of school youth is a cause of concern.”

They noted that there is a “need to pay more attention” to the situation of out of school youth (OSY), particularly during this time, because this could lead to a more “serious issue that could lead to bigger problems later on if left unchecked.”

Data from DepEd shows that there was a decrease in the total enrollment at the basic education level, with a combined enrollment for both public and private schools at 25.05 million. Enrollment in private schools has reached only 51 percent of last year’s f i gur es.

The agency assured the public that to address these issues.

it is doing everything it can