• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
The Department of Education reported on Friday, July 26, that more than 159,000 students have initially enrolled in public schools in Negros Occidental for school year 2024-2025.
Of the 159,347 enrollees as of July 25, there are 88,724 in the elementary level while 70,623 are in the secondary level, according to Ian Arnold Arnaez, spokesperson of the DepEd Negros Occidental Schools Division.
The number of enrollees represents only 50 percent of those who were registered in the previous school year, which was 325,000.
Usually, there is a surge of late enrollees every school year before the first quarter examination, Arnaez said.
Classes for SY 2024 to 2025 will begin on July 29 and end on May 16 next year.
Arnaez said they cannot determine yet if there is an increase or reduction of enrolled students in public schools due to the delay in encoding as a result of poor internet connection.
He added that the MATATAG Curriculum will be implemented starting this school year.
Launched in August last year, the MATATAG Curriculum is the revised curriculum for Kindergarten to Grade 10.
It aims to decongest the current curriculum and focuses on the development of foundational skills such as literacy, numeracy, and socio-emotional skills among younger learners.
The DepEd said that the MATATAG Curriculum will be rolled out in phases: Kindergarten, Grades 1, 4, and 7 for SY 2024-2025; Grades 2, 5, and 8 for SY 2025-2026; Grades 3, 6, and 9 for SY 2026-2027; and Grade 10 for SY 2027-2028. | GB
