DepEd extends enrollment until June 29, targets fewer dropouts

THE Department of Education (Deped) extended the enrollment for elementary and high school until June 29 to make sure more children can go to school.

Deped Secretary Mona Valisno issued the order despite complaints about a shortage in classrooms, toilets, teachers and facilities.

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Aside from the extension, teachers were also ordered to provide make-up sessions and extra assignments so that late enrollees can catch up, said DepEd 7 Director Dr. Recaredo Borgonia.

Enrollment in public schools, so far, has reached 20.17 million, while private schools have listed three million students. Last year’s enrollment in both public and private schools stood at 22.39 million.

Valisno said the DepEd’s mandate is to provide quality education to all, regardless of the difficulties.

“With the support of the community, we can achieve the quality of education we all aspire for. Even if our classrooms are

packed, we are finding ways to get them all in,” she said.

DepEd also aims to cut the dropout rate in the country’s more than 44,000 public schools to nine percent this school year.

The 2010 target reflects a consistent decline from the 8.35 percent dropout rate in school year 2006-2007 and 7.45 percent in 2007-2008.

Survival rate has also improved. In 2005, 70.02 of elementary pupils graduated. This percentage rose to 75.39 three years later.

In high school, the survival rate was 67.32 for 2005, increasing to 75.39 in 2008-2009.

In 2009, DepEd declared there were 5.6 million out-of-school children.

In Central Visayas last year, the average school participation rate for the elementary level was 81.38 percent, said Borgonia.

In high school, the school participation rate was 45.49 percent.

Borgonia also revealed dropout rates in high school were higher than in the elementary level.

One reason was that teenagers were forced to drop out so they could work, he said.

With the enrollment extension, Borgonia said, DepEd hopes to improve the survival rate among public school students and attract out-of-school youths to attend school. (JKV/(Sunnex)