Pandemic forces schools to close in Cagayan Valley

TUGUEGARAO CITY — At least 20 private schools in Cagayan Valley region will stop operating in 2022 due to their low enrollment for the next school year caused by the pandemic, officials said.

Quarantine restrictions have also led to a number of parents losing their jobs, making them unable to afford sending their children to private schools, Anastacio Mabatan Jr., president of Association of Private School Administrators in Basic Education of Region 2 Inc., said in a statement on Wednesday.

Most of these schools are run by religious groups in Cagayan province and offer kindergarten classes, he said.

Mabatan said these schools did not submit documents for processing of their permits to operate for the next school year, which will begin in September 2022 and end in June 2023. —VILLAMOR VISAYA JR.