Enrollment in public schools starts Aug. 16

MANILA, Philippines — Enrollment in public schools in the country will begin on Aug. 16 and end on Sept. 13, the Department of Education (DepEd) announced on Saturday, clarifying that the conduct of in-person classes was still out of the question.

President Duterte recently approved the DepEd’s proposal to open the next school year on Sept. 13 under blended learning, but has yet to give his go-signal for the pilot implementation of in-person learning.

He has repeatedly turned down earlier proposals from the agency to conduct classes in schools, citing health risks due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the fact that no vaccine brand may be administered to children yet.

“After the President’s decision on the start date for the incoming school year, the [DepEd] has finalized the school calendar for [school year] 2021-2022, which will still feature [a] blended learning approach in the delivery of basic education,” the agency said in a statement.

The DepEd implemented blended learning—or conducting synchronous and asynchronous classes online, through television and radio programs, or printed learning materials nationwide last year.

The successful conduct of distance learning, however, was marred by errors in self-learning modules and the inaccessibility of materials and stable internet connection.

This led to at least 1 million unenrolled students in the school year 2020-2021, while the DepEd reduced its enrollment target from 27 million to 22.2 million due mainly to the economic impact of the health crisis.

Under DepEd Order No. 029, series of 2021, the next school year is scheduled to end on June 24, 2022, giving students and teachers a total of 209 school days in adherence to Republic Act No. 7797.

The law mandates that instead of the previous 200 school days required, the DepEd must implement a school calendar that would extend this to not more than 220 class days in total.

Due to the “compressed” school year, the DepEd said distance learning activities might be conducted on Saturdays, but should “religious considerations” prevent this, they may be moved instead on a Sunday.

The DepEd also encouraged regional offices to make adjustments to enhance the implementation of the Basic Education-Learning Continuity Plan, through the use of television- and radio-based modes of instruction to “lessen reliance on printed modules.”

Christmas break for the next school year is scheduled to start on Dec. 20, while classes will resume on Jan. 3, 2022.

As of June 4, a total of 4,557,435 students in Grades 1, 7 and 11 have registered for school year 2021-2022, or a 99-percent turnout compared to last year.