INQUIRER file photo
MANILA, Philippines—The first day of registration for the next schoolyear in one of the biggest elementary schools in the country went smoothly on Saturday, with school officials reporting an increase in the number of registrants compared with the current school year.
Rodolfo Modelo, principal of the Commonwealth Elementary School in Quezon City, told the Inquirer no untoward incident was recorded since the registration started at 6 a.m. in the school’s covered court, where plastic chairs and tables had been arranged as early as the night before.
The registration ended at 5 p.m.
“It’s really OK this year. The turnout is very good,” Modelo said.
In fact, Modelo said, the number of registrants this year was “far higher” than the one recorded in each category last year, when parents, would-be students and former students, he said, failed to fill the same covered court where they assembled for the same purpose on January 28.
“Now, especially this morning, the covered court was so filled with people, even outside,” he said.
As of 2 p.m., the Philippine Daily Inquirer saw a number of parents with their sons and daughters outside the court.
One of them, who refused to identify himself, told the Inquirer that he had just registered his son and was just waiting for his wife.
At least five children were running around and playing in the covered court.
Based on initial records from teachers manning the registration desks, as of 2 p.m., 872 children enlisted to be enrolled as Grade 1 students in the upcoming academic year.
This is around 500 more than the estimated 300 students who registered last year for the same grade, Modelo said.
He added the 479 children who enlisted as Kindergarten students for the next schoolyear as of 2 p.m. were also far more than the 250 who registered for the same category for an entire day (from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m.) last year.
No child signed up for the special education program of the school last year, but eight had registered as of 2 p.m. Saturday, Modelo said.
“Parents now understand the importance of the early registration,” Modelo said.
He attributed this increased awareness of parents to the school’s information dissemination via a motorcade and leaflets.
He added that parents now understand that the early registration was a vital part of the planning process of school officials for the next schoolyear.
“At least now it’s easy to request [additional resources] if needed to our division superintendent since we have an idea” of the number of children who will be enrolling in the next schoolyear, he said.