Private schools told to report closures

Private schools that stopped operations this year were told to submit their respective notices of tempoary closures on Tuesday, Dec. 29, as the Department of Education (DepEd) sought a record of education institutions that closed down due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Schools that did not submit their notices of closure will be presumed closed and would lose their permit to operate for succeeding school year, the DepEd said in a department order.

A notice of temporary closure is needed so that DepEd is aware of the school’s intent to reopen for the next school year. Schools that intent to operate for the next school year however need to communicate with the DepEd.

“For private schools with a permit to operate, such communication will trigger the issuance by the regional office of a renewed permit to operate,” DepEd said.

Earlier, several private school stakeholders appealed to the government for aid to sustain their operations as many private schools across the country had to suspend operations due to a drop in enrollment brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Teachers’ groups also appealed to the government, particularly DepEd, for aid for private school teachers, many of whom lost their jobs due to the pandemic.

The DepEd earlier allowed private schools to temporarily suspend operations for school year 2020-2021 due to the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Enrollment data from DepEd showed that only around 2.1 million students enrolled in private schools this year, just around half of the student population last year.