AN EDUCATION official hopes that students from private schools who transferred to public schools at the height of the coronavirus pandemic will go back to their former institutions, to decongest the public schools.
“During the pandemic a lot of learners transferred to public [schools]. We do hope that those [students] who transferred will go back to private schools,” Department of Education (DepEd) 7 Director Salustiano Jimenez told SunStar Cebu on Monday, Aug. 14, 2023.
Lockdown
He said some parents made the decision to enroll their children in public schools because they encountered financial difficulties as a result of the government-imposed lockdowns that had a negative impact on the economy.
He said he hopes more parents will be able to send their children back to private schools now that economic conditions have improved, and the pandemic’s public emergency classification has been lifted.
According to the education agency, almost 200,000 students were enrolled in private schools in the region last school year.
However, as of Aug. 14, only around 100,000 students were enrolled in private institutions.
Jimenez expects the number to climb, though, as private schools accept late enrollees.
Opening of classes
Last Aug. 3, the DepEd Central Office in Manila announced that the opening of classes in all public schools for the upcoming school year would be on Aug. 29.
Private schools, however, are not required to adhere to the DepEd’s directive.
Under Republic Act (RA) 11480, or “An act amending Section 3 of RA 7797, otherwise known as ‘An act to lengthen the school calendar from 200 days to not more than 220 class days,’” they are allowed to choose to start lessons on the first Monday in June if they like, but they must do it no later than the final day of August this year, according to the DepEd.
Private schools are subjected to a one-week leeway before and after classes start and end, so long as they submit their school calendar to DepEd for approval.
School closure
Jimenez said some private schools were forced to shut down for good in the last three years, particularly at the start of the pandemic in 2020.
At present, less than a thousand private schools are operating in Central Visayas compared to the over 3,000 public schools across the region.
Central Visayas is composed of the provinces of Cebu, Negros Oriental, Bohol and Siquijor.
According to a report from August 2022 provided by Dr. Anthony Tamayo, chairman of the Coordinating Council of Private Education Associations, over 900,000 learners from private schools switched to public schools nationwide since the pandemic began in 2020.
Public schools
Based on the data provided by the DepEd 7, almost one million students are enrolled in public schools in Central Visayas for the upcoming school year.
Around 500,000 enrollees were logged during the early registration for incoming Kindergarten, and Grades 1, 7 and 11 learners that was conducted from May 10 to June 9.
Enrollment for the other grades, which started last Aug. 7, is ongoing, and will end on Aug. 26. As of Aug. 14, 480,000 students have enrolled.
Jimenez said they expect a two percent growth in the enrollment in public schools for this school year to around two million, from almost 1.9 million learners last school year. /