Basic education enrollment breaches half of previous year

With only 10 days before schools open, more than 16 million learners have registered for basic education as of Friday, 39 percent lower so far than last year’s enrollment of 26.2 million learners. This developed even as the Department of Education (DepEd) has yet to identify the schools, which may be allowed to conduct pilot in-person classes. On Thursday, Nepomuceno Malaluan, undersecretary for the DepEd, said they were informed that the Department of Health (DOH) has announced that 120 schools have been lined up for in-person classes. But he said the department would disclose the process of naming the schools upon approval of the joint guidelines with the DOH. He said the list was still subject to the approval of President Duterte. The DepEd announced in July that Mr. Duterte has approved Sept. 13 as the opening date for School Year 2021-2022. —Mariejo Ramos