TO MAKE sure that incoming Kindergarten, Grades 1, 7 and 11 learners are registered as well as to locate, identify, and register out-of-school children (OSC) and youth (OSY) in the community, a four-week early registration will be conducted in all public secondary schools and learning centers starting January 26.
Among those who will need extra efforts to locate are those learners with disability/ies; living in an off-grid community; living in a barangay without a school; living in a geographically isolated area; displaced due to natural disaster; living in an armed conflict area, living in an area with high level of criminality/drug abuse; having chronic illness; having nutritional problem/s; victim/s of child abuse or economic exploitation; stateless or undocumented; in conflict with the law; living on the streets; and those who are no longer in school but interested in going back to schools.
As written in Department of Education (DepEd) Order No. 3, s. 2018 otherwise known as “Basic Education Enrollment Policy” signed by DepEd Secretary Leonor Briones, the department is scheduled to conduct the early registration of incoming Kindergarten, Grades 1, 7 and 11 learners in all public schools nationwide from the last Saturday of January to the last Friday of February of each year which in 2019, the last Saturday of this month is on January 26 while the last Friday of next month will be on February 22.
The DepEd Order also emphasized that “incoming Grades 2-6, Grades 8-10 and Grade 12 learners are considered pre-registered” which means that there is no need for these students to participate in the Early Registration.
With the said issuance still in effect this 2019, it is expected that DepEd offices in all governance levels – specifically those in areas with learners that have been earlier identified – shall conduct an information dissemination and advocacy campaign “to raise public awareness of early registration.”
For elementary and secondary public school, school officials, are also expected to designate Early Registration Desks or Registration Centers in the school premises and individuals who will handle the registration in the same manner that each SDO must also identify areas “without schools but may have enrollees” and the Schools Division Superintendents (SDSs) shall “designate a focal person” to work with the concerned Barangay Chairperson for early registration to be done in the barangay. On the other hand, registration of street children who were identified during Child Finding Activities shall be conducted by the SDOs in coordination with the local social worker of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
Early registration is an annual activity of DepEd to “help the public schools to better address and prepare for possible issues and concerns” at the start of the new school year in June 2019 and seeks to understand the barriers to have access to education and the possible local solutions or interventions that will bring learners to school and will ensure their completion of basic K to 12 education.
Among the activities enumerated by DepEd to field personnel are to conduct various activities like house-to-house campaign, posting announcements, meetings with local and barangay officials and civic organizations, and other advocacy activities “to help locate school-aged children to enroll in schools.”
For the part of the learners, they were also reminded to register early in schools where they opt to enroll and may also be required to bring some documents such as Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), formerly National Statistics Office (NSO), birth certificate and report cards. Because of its “No Collection Policy,” DepEd also reiterated that there is “no registration fee or any payment to be collected from the child or their parents/guardians” during the Early Registration period.