Leyte map. INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO
TACLOBAN CITY — The Department of Education (DepEd) has sought the assistance of mayors in Leyte to convince young learners, who have dropped out, to return to school.
Marisa Magan, Leyte schools division superintendent, said only 337,631 of 383,515 students, who were supposed to be in the secondary level, enrolled this school year.
“This means, there were 5,884 students who were not in school this year. And this number of students, who are not in school, is alarming,” she said.
Citing their record, she said that of the 5,884 students who were not in school, 4,024 were not enrolled while the remaining 1,860 were considered “untracked” or whose whereabouts are unknown or could not be tracked by their mapping.
READ: Leyte to transform historic capitol into museum
“We need all your support in locating all these learners because they are among the school-age population but are not in school,” Magan said.
“Look into your own municipality if there are children or even if they are not children anymore who have not completed their basic education,” she added.
Magan encouraged mayors to devise schemes to encourage the dropouts to resume their studies.
Based on reports they received, she said these students chose not to return to school due lack of interest, financial or family problems, and transfer of residence, among others.
READ: Leyte provincial capitol goes solar
One of the interventions made by DepEd, she said, was to introduce night classes to accommodate those working during the day.
This intervention, however, did not work as only one of the 40 municipalities in Leyte offers night classes.
The number of enrollees in the night school, however, also declined.
From 100 in 2022, only 56 enrolled this year.
“(And) when I visited the school a few weeks ago, there were only two students, and up to the time I was about to leave, it did not even reach 15,” Magan said.
Aside from child mapping, she also suggested for the local governments to implement programs such as providing students with school supplies and free transportation to avoid the risk of dropping out.