Over 300,000 private school students transfer to public schools

AROUND 305,000 students from private schools transferred to public schools because of the economic fallout from the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) crisis, the Department of Education (DepEd) said Thursday, July 16, 2020.

Education Undersecretary Jesus Lorenzo R. Mateo bared this during a Laging Handa public briefing Thursday.

“Mayroon pong mga 305,000 na mag-aaral sa pribadong paaralan na lumipat sa public na paaralan. Ito ay dahil sa epekto ng pandemya, ‘yung apektado ‘yung kanilang employment,” Mateo said.

Around 20 million learners have enrolled for the 2020-2021 school year as of July 15, the last day of the extended enrollment period.

Education Undersecretary Recsee Escobedo said this was lower by about 20 percent.

Escobedo said they have anticipated this because a lot of parents lost income opportunities due to the pandemic.

“Inaasahan po namin ang pagbaba ng enrollment ngayong school year 2020-2021. In fact, doon sa record natin sa private schools marami talaga ang ‘di talaga nakapag-enroll malaking bilang nito ay nag-transfer na sa public shools,” he said.

Some parents are also hesitant to enroll their children because of the continued threat posed by Covid-19, he added.

Escobedo said the agency will still allow late enrollment until classes open on August 24.

Based on last school year's enrollment, there are still about seven million learners who have not enrolled.

“Ang DepEd po naman ay bukas pa rin kung sakaling may hahabol na magpapatala hanggang enrollment, bukas pa rin hanggang sa pagbubukas ng klase,” he said.

Escobedo said students who fail to enroll by August 24 may avail themselves of DepEd's alternative learning system, which has been benefiting the out-of-school youth.

Meanwhile, Mateo noted that there is a government program that provides tuition assistance and subsidies to students and teachers in private schools.

“Ang ating pamahalaan mayroon pong tinatawag na Government Assistance to Students and Teachers in Private Education (GASTPE), ayan po ay binibigay natin sa mga paaralan para sa gano’n mabigyan ng assistance in the form of tuition and teachers’ subsidy ‘yung mga paaralan natin para ‘di mag sarado,” said Mateo.

The GASTPE or Republic Act. No. 6728 is a state policy that provides assistance to Filipino students whose family income is not more than P72,000.

Other criteria include tuition fees charged by schools, the socioeconomic needs of each region giving priority to the Social Reform Agenda (SRA) provinces, overall performance of the schools, the academic qualifications and the financial needs of the students and the teachers and the financial needs of the schools, as well as the geographic spread and size of student population.

Meanwhile, Escobedo said DepEd will ensure the health and safety of the students when classes open on August 24.

“Sa amin sa Kagawaran sinisigurado namin na sa pagbubukas ng klase ay tinitiyak namin yung kalusugan at kaligtasan ng mga bata, magaulang at patI na rin ‘yung komunidad,” he added. (Jove Moya/SunStar Philippines)