4.5 million students pre-register for school year 2021-2022

Education Secretary Leonor Briones. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE

MANILA, Philippines — Some 4.5 million students have registered early for the school year 2021-2022, the Department of Education (DepEd) said Saturday.

The Education department tallied a total of 4,557,435 students in Kindergarten, Grade 1, 7, and 11 who have availed of the early registration that began last April and ended on May 31, 2021.

This number represents 99% of the students who have enrolled for the previous school year.

“As our learners and parents showed their value for learning in this exercise, we are committed to continue exhausting all means to provide accessible and quality education for all,” Education Secretary Leonor Briones said in a statement.

The DepEd said it recorded 991,689 kindergarten, 1,554,556 Grade 1 (elementary school), 1,143,193 Grade 7 (junior high school), and 867,997 Grade 11 (senior high school) early registrants for the entire period.

Grades 2 to 6, 8 to 10, and 12 are considered pre-registered and need not participate in the early registration, the DepEd added.

Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, and Quezon) recorded the highest number of registered students at 480,709, followed by Central Visayas (405,001), and Western Visayas (387,152), the DepEd said.

“The collaboration between schools and parents is evident in this year’s exercise as we achieved our target anew. With this success, we can strategically prepare our resources to further improve education delivery for School Year 2021-2022,” Education Undersecretary Jesus Mateo said in the same statement.

For the safety of learners, parents, and personnel, the DepEd said early registration this year was done using communication platforms like Facebook chats, text messaging, and drop-boxes in schools or barangays.

/MUF