MANILA, Philippines—To enable school officials to better prepare for the more than 1.5 million new freshman high school students expected next school year, the Department of Education on Tuesday appealed to incoming students to start registering to their target high schools this month.

In a memorandum, Education Secretary Jesli Lapus said that “all incoming first year high school students for the school year 2009-2010 shall register in the public or private high schools of their choice within the four Saturdays in January 2009.”

Graduating grade six students shall bring with them a certification from the elementary principal that they are candidates for graduation this school year when they register on January 10, 17, 24 and 31.

The DepEd clarified, however, that only registration shall be done this month. The enrolment will still be in June, it said in a statement.

“The early registration for incoming first year high school students will help schools to be prepared as it can give the school administrators an idea of what to expect,” assistant secretary Teresita Inciong told the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

If a graduating grade six student fails to register this month, “this is already a sign that he or she may not enroll in high school,” Bureau of Elementary Education Director Yolanda Quijano also said in a statement.

The department expects a slight increase in the 1.5 million freshman high school students in the school year 2008-2009 who will enroll in the 8,450 public and private high schools in the country.

If school administrators get an idea early on how many students are likely to enroll for the next school year, they can allot enough number of rooms or request for additional ones if needed, Inciong explained.

The early registration will also help school principals detect grade six students who might fail so these students could be given “interventions” to help them catch up and be able to still graduate on time and get into freshman class, Inciong added.

Of every 100 students who finish grade six, only about 87 proceed to enroll in high school, DepEd figures show.

High school principals can also screen early on who among prospective freshman students would need help at the high school level.

The objective of the early registration is to enable the secondary school heads to identify who among the prospective graduates of grade six are at risk of dropping out,” Lapus said in his memorandum. “These students will be the target clientele of the Drop Out Reduction Program through Open High School.”

Open High School is a program that caters to special needs of students by providing modules or night shifts.

Of course, knowing they are registered to a particular high school will also serve as a “moral booster” for grade six students to motivate them to study harder in the remaining months before their graduation, Inciong also said.