THE coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic had brought a slight reduction of enrollees, both public and private schools in the entire Davao Region, according to data from the Department of Education-Davao Region (DepEd-Davao).
As of July 17, DepEd-Davao recorded a total of 1,046,631 public school enrollees from kindergarten to senior high school (SHS) for the school year (SY) 2020 to 2021. This is lower than the 1,161,883 enrollees from SY 2019-2020.
Enrollees for private school also dropped to 139,734 enrollees for SY 2020 to 2021, compared to the 196,640 from SY 2019-2020.
Davao City has recorded the most number of enrollees for public and private schools with 354,590, followed by Davao de Oro with 176,227, Davao del Norte with 115,530, Davao del Sur with 97,069, Davao Oriental with 96,884, Tagum City with 66,779, Davao Occidental with 54,998, Panabo City with 49,500, Digos City with 42,585, Mati City with 35,055 and Island Garden City of Samal 27,231.
The last day of enrollment was on July 15, after it was extended by the DepEd central office due to the lower turn out of enrollees.
SunStar Davao reached out to DepEd-Davao Spokesperson Jenielito Atillo for further comments on the data forwarded by the agency but he has not responded yet as of press time.
However, he said in a previous SunStar Davao phone call interview that they already expected the reduction of enrollees in this pandemic.
Atillo, meanwhile, clarified that the distance learning DepEd will implement in the opening of classes this August 24 will be varied depending on the situation of the student.
While the official did not specifically say if the supposed mandatory online class learning had been one factor for some parents not to enroll their children this school opening, he, however, said that DepEd did not make it mandatory.
Hence, he said DepEd will be offering other learning modalities such as printed, TV or radio-based learning.
He also clarified that the department did not impose parents and teachers to buy laptops for the online class.
"Wala nagsulti si Deped nga ang mga ginikanan should buy gadgets para sa online classes (DepEd did not impose anyone to buy gadgets for the online class)," Atillo said, adding that the school will be adjusting to the situation of their students, especially those living in far-flung areas with a slow internet connection.
Another factor he cited is that some parents can no longer afford to enroll their children in private schools after their incomes were gravely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown.
Atillo said they are already preparing for the upcoming school year since it will be the first time that face-to-face classroom setup will be not allowed, due to the continuing threat of the Covid-19.
Admittedly, he said they are still adjusting to the "new normal" setup. Currently, DepEd officials and teachers are continuously preparing through various online meetings and seminars in order for them to properly execute the blended learning approach.