Enrollment in Makati increases

Makati City Mayor Elenita Binay announced yesterday a 6.2 percent increase in enrollment in the 36 Makati public schools this year.

Official reports of DECS-Makati, showed a record number of 71,830 enrollees, surpassing last year’s 67,615. This was broken down into 47,419 for elementary and 24, 411 for high school.

Binay said the big turnout of enrollees of Makati public schools can be attributed to the large number of transferees and recognition of the quality of the city’s public school system.

The city government had set aside P263 million for the purchase of educational materials and instructional support programs and activities for the free use of all public elementary and high schools in the city. Last year, the city government spent P140 million for the free materials, a 23 million difference in anticipation of an increase in the number of students.

Binay said that they consider this big turnout of enrollees not a burden but a good sign for Makati’s public schools.

The mayor said it only shows the sincerity of the city government in making education its first priority.

Binay further explained that the increased population of students in the city’s public schools has been anticipated by city government long before and they have made the necessary preparations.

These include the completion of 10 public schools which were renovated and expanded, hiring of contractual teachers to maintain the 1:50 teacher student ratio, the recommended teacher-student ratio by the Department of Education, Culture and Sports in public schools.