MORE than 100 private schools in Central Visayas have shut down their operations amid the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic, according to the top official of the Department of Education in Central Visayas (DepEd 7).
As of Aug. 17, 2022, only 892 private schools are left in the region and expected to operate for the school year 2022-2023, DepEd 7 Director Salustiano Jimenez told SunStar Cebu on Wednesday, Aug. 17.
The regional director earlier said Central Visayas had about 1,000 private schools and 3,000 public schools.
Jimenez said some of the private schools shut down their operations from the school year 2020-2021, although the majority did so in the school year 2021-2022.
Those that shut down were a combination of kindergarten to high schools, he said.
“More on enrollment, usually the small schools, especially those catering only to kindergarten students,” said Jimenez when asked the reason for the closures.
Jimenez said, though, that he received communication from two of the affected schools that they would reopen for this school year.
“Maybe some are still recovering from Typhoon Odette. Their school buildings were destroyed, so they need more time to recover,” he added.
Lapu-Lapu City
In Lapu-Lapu City, at least nine private schools closed down during the school year 2021-2022 due to the low number of enrollees and difficulty in holding online classes.
Only 70 private schools continued to operate amid the Covid-19 pandemic, DepEd Lapu-Lapu City Division Superintendent Wilfreda Bongalos said earlier.
Bongalos remained optimistic that the operations of the affected schools would someday return to normal.