DepEd: Over 18 million students enrolled for SY 2022-2023 so far
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. INQUIRER/GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE
MANILA, Philippines – As schools return to in-person learning, the Department of Education (DepEd) said over 18 million learners have so far enrolled for School Year 2022 – 2023.
According to DepEd spokesperson Michael Wesley Poa, this figure is around 65 percent of the department’s target of 28.6 million enrolled learners for the upcoming school year – which is set to begin on August 22.
READ: School year 2022-2023 to start August 22 — DepEd
“Meron na po tayo as of 7 a.m. today, naitatalang 18.6 million enrolled learners,” he said during a joint press conference with the Office of the Vice President on Wednesday.
(We have recorded 18.6 million enrolled learners as of 7 a.m. today.)
Poa then appealed for parents not to delay the enrollment of their children to give the DepEd sufficient time to prepare for the expected number of learners in schools.
DepEd’s back-to-school vaccination gameplan
Poa echoed the earlier sentiment of DepEd, which strictly veers away from requiring COVID-19 vaccination among teachers, students, and non-teaching personnel in schools.
READ: DepEd: Vaxxed, unvaxxed staff and students treated equally
He noted, however, that an infection containment strategy must be established in every school to prepare action plans should a person tests positive for COVID-19 within school premises.
“Kailangan may plano iyong bawat school kung ano iyong gagawin nila, iyong protocols nila diyan,” he said.
(Each school needs to plan out what their protocols would be if a COVID-19 infection is reported under their watch.)
In coordination with the Department of Health (DOH), Poa said the DepEd will also organize counseling sessions to encourage unvaccinated learnes to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
A mobile vaccination drive in schools is similarly being eyed by the department, according to Poa.
“We are looking again with the DOH to roll out a mobile vaccination drive para naman doon naman sa papayag na magpabakuna na, ilalapit na po natin sa kanila iyong vaccination,” he explained.
(Together with the DOH, we are looking into rolling out a mobile vaccination drive to make COVID-19 vaccines accessible for those who will agree to have them administered in schools.)
He further stressed: “Ngayon po, ang focus talaga natin is una, malinis iyong mga paaralan. Walang stagnant water kasi siyempre, maliban sa COVID-19, meron din tayong dengue problem at the moment. Maliban po riyan, we will be strictly enforcing iyong ating minimum health and safety standards.”
(Right now, our focus is to ensure the cleanliness of schools. We want to make sure there’s no stagnant water in schools since aside from COVID-19, we’re also worried about the dengue problem. We will also be strictly enforcing our minimum health and safety standards in schools.)
Teachers earlier slammed DepEd’s plan to resume full in-person learning in all schools across the country by November, arguing that the lack of health protection mechanisms, aside from wearing face masks, will create an unsafe environment in schools.
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