THE classes for school year 2021-2022 in public basic education schools in the Philippines officially start Monday, September 13, 2021, amid the Covid-19 pandemic, with nearly two million students in Central Visayas enrolled two days before the opening of classes.
Some private schools in the region started ahead of September 13.
Department of Education (DepEd) 7 Director Salustiano Jimenez said some of the challenges they encountered ahead of the opening of this school year are the enrolment and the budget.
“(We) need the data before the start of classes so teachers can prepare well the needed materials; of course, budget, that’s why (we) need more engagement with stakeholders,” he told SunStar Cebu.
Jimenez said the modules’ budget from its pool central office is downloaded to the regional office and then to the schools division offices based on enrolment data.
However, he said, they need the budget for other needs in schools too such as alcohol, masks and face shields for its teaching and non-teaching personnel because the Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses (MOOE) budget is not enough.
Central Visayas has about 82,000 teaching and non-teaching personnel, of which around 79,000 are teachers.
He said the enrolment as of Saturday, Sept. 11, was at 1,877,857. This is about 92 percent of DepEd 7’s target for this school year, which is two million enrollees.
Of these, 114,693 are private basic education school enrollees.
He, however, expects more data on enrolment from private schools as they usually submit their final lists of enrolment late.
He said it has also been a practice by some parents and guardians to enrol their children during the first few weeks of classes.