Duterte says 3.3 million enrollees so far for SY 2022-2023

FILE PHOTO: A teacher and her students learn together at the Pedro Cruz Elementary School in San Juan City as it reopened its face-to-face classes on Thursday, February 10, 2022. The school passed the DepED Schools Safety Assessment Tool (SSAT), which shows its readiness for the limited face-to-face learning modality. INQUIRER/GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE

MANILA, Philippines — Around 3.3 million students have so far enrolled for School Year (SY) 2022-2023 as of July 26, Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte disclosed Tuesday.

In a briefing in Pasay City a day after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s first State of the Nation Address (Sona), Duterte said the number includes those who enrolled on July 25, the opening of the enrollment period for the upcoming school year.

“I am happy to share with everyone that our enrollment for the first day was 3.3 million already compared to our first day last year, which was at 222,000 only,” she said.

The enrollment period ends on August 22, the first day of classes for public schools.

The Department of Education said it expects around 28.6 million students to be enrolled for SY 2022-2023.

Duterte earlier ordered that starting November 2, public and private schools all over the country must start conducting full five days of face-to-face classes.

“After the said date, no school shall be allowed to implement purely distance learning or blended learning except for those that are implementing Alternative Modes,” her directive reads.

KGA/abc