24M learners enrolled for 2020-2021 school year

Photo: Facebook/DepEd Philippines

The Department of Education (DepEd) confirmed that more than 24 million students across the country have enrolled for the upcoming 2020-2021 school year.

The 24,536,403 learners account for 88.35 percent of the previous year’s number of enrollees for the Kindergarten to Grade 12 school levels. This includes those who have registered for the alternative learning system and non-graded learners with disabilities. Among these, 22,360,102 students enrolled in public schools, while 2,123,539 enrolled in private schools. DepEd noted that it expects the number to increase as it receives more reports.

Classes were disrupted in March as community quarantines were implemented all over the country due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Under blended learning, television, radio, and the Internet are to be combined as modes of instruction as face-to-face classes will be largely prohibited.

Earlier, DepEd reported that more than 30,000 schools had completed its blended learning dry-run. Various school divisions confirmed that it already has schedules in place for the handing of the modules in time before classes formally open on October 5. The education bureau is looking at the implementation of DepEd TV and DepEd Radio as long-term strategies to deliver learning.