CEBU, Philippines - The Department of Education (DepEd)-Central Visayas placed the number of enrollees for this schoolyear 945,462 for kindergarten and elementary and 347,911 for secondary education.
But DepEd Regional Director Carmelita Dulangon yesterday said the number of enrollees in kindergarten dropped with 66,340 as of January 2012 compared to 142,559 for school year 2011-2012, with difference of 76, 219.
There is also a drop in the number of enrollees in public secondary schools by 49, 919 especially in the first year. As of January, only 73,985 enrolled for first year compared to 123,904 of school year 2011-2012.
Dulangon explained that many students who graduated from elementary will no longer push through with their secondary education.
She, however, believes that the number of enrollees will still increase because they are expecting late enrollees. She said there may be reasons the students have yet to enroll so she is urging them to proceed to their nearest school and enroll now.
“We will not turn away students especially those late enrollees because it is under the Constitution to provide access to education,” she said.
For grade 1 enrollees, there is an increase of 14,048. As of January, there are 130,049 already enrolled compared to school calendar year 2011-2012 with only 116,001.
In the special meeting addressed to Schools Division Superintendents and Regional Division Chiefs yesterday, Dulangon admitted that Region 7 still lacks at least 2,000 standardized classrooms or rooms so schools “must use each and every facility available” including libraries, stages or even the principal’s offices.
Dulangon said that DepEd provided 1,206 teachers from the central office for the region.
In terms of infrastructure, Dulangon admitted that in reality, they cannot provide all the schools in the region with the basic or standard classrooms. However, she assured that “no child will be turned away from our schools. Everyone who comes to enroll and wants to study will be accepted.”
Asked how ready are the schools for the implementation of the K to 12 Program, Dulangon said they are already prepared and ready.
“We are ready. We are prepared. We will implement K to 12,” she said.
Under the new curriculum, the incoming Grade 1 students will be required to undertake the new curriculum, which means finishing basic education in 2023 after completing Grade 11.
As to the teachers’ preparedness for the K-to-12 program, Dulangon assured that they will be given sufficient in-service training to implement the program. Pre-service training for aspiring teachers will also be modified to conform to the requirements of the program. – Garry B. Lao with Michael Angelo A. Gallego, Bicol University Journalism intern (THE FREEMAN)