This file photo shows students attending a flag raising ceremony before singing the national anthem at a government school in Manila. AFP FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — Nearly 24 million learners have so far enrolled in both public and private schools for the upcoming school year, Education Secretary Leonor Briones reported on Monday as she deemed the turn-out of enrollees as a “very impressive” accomplishment.
“Ang ating enrollment ngayon ang ating mga learners, umabot na ng 23.9 million, halos 24 million na ang learners natin na nag-register. Everyday, meron tayong dagdag dahil may mga late enrollees,” Briones said in an online press briefing.
“Ito ay napaka-impressive na accomplishment, dahil this is already 86.10 percent compared to last year’s enrollment,” she added.
The data presented by Briones showed that of the 23.9 million enrollees, over 21.9 million registered in public schools while nearly 1.9 million enrolled in private institutions.
The data also included lover 365,000 learners enrolled in an alternative learning system (ALS).
“Sa public sector, umabot na tayo ng 97.23 percent ng ating mga learners last year. Sa ALS, halos kalahati na ng dati nating nag-enroll ay bumablik na,” Briones went on.
“Sa private sector, halos 43 percent ay naka-enroll,” she added.
Briones noted that the number of students who “migrated” from the private institutions to public schools due to the economic impact inflicted by the COVID-19 pandemic have reached around 398,000.
The opening of classes was moved to October to under a distance learning set-up as the country continues to grapple with the COVID-19. pandemic.