THERE is no stopping the opening of classes on Oct. 5, 2020 as the enrollment for public basic education in Central Visayas is at 1,750,000 as of Sept. 24, 2020, or less than two weeks before the incoming school year starts.
Salustiano Jimenez, Department of Education Central Visayas (DepEd 7) director, said this is 99.72 percent compared to that of the previous school year with about 1,755,000 enrollees for public elementary and high school levels.
As for the private school enrollment in the region, Jimenez said it is now at 57 percent compared to that of the previous enrollment.
As of 8 a.m. of Sept. 21, the total number of enrollees for SY 2020-2021 has reached 24,536,403 nationwide, or 88.35 percent of SY 2019-2020, for Kindergarten to Grade 12, including alternative learning system (ALS) and non-graded learners with disabilities.
The data posted on the official Facebook page of DepEd national showed that 22,360,102 learners have enrolled in public schools (99.06 percent of SY 2019) and 2,123,539 are registered in private schools (49.32 percent of SY 2019).
DepEd said it is still anticipating an increase in enrollment figures as reports from the field continue to come in.
It said schools will also accept late enrollees as stated in DepEd Order No. 003, s. 2018.
Moreover, Jimenez said based on their regional management committee meeting on Sept. 22, all of the 19 schools division superintendents in the region are ready for the first quarter modules.
Jimenez also said three teachers from Central Visayas, particularly from Mandaue City Division, Guihulngan City Division and Negros Oriental Division joined the nationwide DepEd TV dry run from Sept. 21 to 25.
DepEd started airing lessons on television channels on Sept. 21, as part of the final test run of its broadcast media learning modality for SY 2020-2021.
Because of the pandemic, DepEd decided to resume classes through blended learning, wherein students do not have to be physically present in school to participate in classes to avoid transmission of the coronavirus.
Not all of the DepEd divisions in Central Visayas, however, will implement the TV-based instruction as some divisions chose modular-printed paired with other form of blended learning using the radio-based instruction (RBI), Jimenez said.
Some of the divisions which have schools that opted to use blended learning with TV-based instruction (through cable TV) include the divisions of Dumaguete City, City of Naga, Mandaue City and Lapu Lapu City.
However, he said, just like the RBI, the TV-based instruction is also just supplemental to the modular-printed mode of learning.
He said: “It is scheduled. Not all most essential learning competencies (MELCs) have video lessons because the TV-based instruction is only three hours long.”
Learning competencies, according to DepEd, refer to “the knowledge, understanding, skills and attitudes that students need to demonstrate in every lesson and/or learning activity.”
As part of DepEd’s Learning Continuity Plan, the K to 12 curriculum has been streamlined to 5,689 MELCs from the original 14,171 MELCs or reduced by 60 percent.
Jimenez said in Central Visayas, DepEd has partnered with PTV 4 and CCTN TV stations.
Aside from the Jaclupan National High School in Talisay City, Cebu, other schools in the Province such as San Francisco in the Camotes Group of Islands, Badian and Tuburan will also be implementing RBI, mixed with printed modules.
Jimenez said the one in San Francisco, Camotes, Cebu uses a government-run station while the one in Tuburan has connected with the radio station of the Cebu Technological University-Tuburan, whom DepEd has entered into a Memorandum of Agreement with on Tuesday, Sept. 22. (WBS)