DepEd admits that the expected enrollment turnout for this school year will be just around 80 percent.
Enrollment turnout in the PH
The current enrollment turnout in the Philippines stands at 70 percent. This is equivalent to 19.5 million students out of the 27.7 million enrollees from last year.
This is a close value to the rough estimate of 80 percent enrollment turnout by the Department of Education. This is despite the enrollment process being conducted remotely. The department expects an increase in enrollment turnout as teachers slowly report physically at school and accept physical enrollment.
But, for the activist group Alliance of Concerned Teachers, headed by Raymond Basilio, the effort isn’t just enough. The enrollment turnout is not acceptable for them. He even quoted:
One child left is one too many.
For Basilio, the government must send students to school since it is their constitutional right as Filipinos.
Yet, for the Department of Education Secretary Leonor Briones, compromising one school year will create a ripple of negative effects towards Philippine education. They are still finding more options for students to attend classes for the school year 2020-2021.
Criticisms are acceptable, as long as helpful suggestions accompany such criticisms. Activist groups in the Philippines criticizes the DepEd’s way of handling the education system in the country but fails to provide efficient alternatives. What they usually suggest is freezing of classes and postponing the reopening of classes.
Financial issues
Due to COVID-19, several households suffered significant financial losses. This is one of the reasons critics are pointing out that it may contribute to the depletion of enrollees for the next school year.
The DepEd pointed out that Public schools are offering free tuition ever since. If online learning is not possible, there are two other options offered by DepEd, printed out learning modules and access through mass media.
The DepEd is asking for the parent’s coordination in helping their children cope up with the distance learning measures. Since teachers won’t be available to guide students physically, parents should be willing to step up and guide their children with their bring home learning modules and ensure they stay tuned to television or radio schedules of the student’s lessons.
In a pandemic, we should look after each other and not bring others down. If we can contribute in any way we can, we must not hesitate. After all, parents should realize, it is for the welfare of their children, it is not for someone else.
