The Department of Education Division of Negros Occidental noted a drop in enrollment in public elementary, junior high, and integrated schools, as well as in private schools in the province for school year 2022-2023.
The decrease in enrolment followed the two years of suspension of face to face classes, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Classes will start on Aug. 22, as ordered by the Department of Education, with a total of 271,771 Negrense students going back to school.
There were 336,970 students enrolled in school year 2021-2022.
DepEd Division Negros Occidental records showed that public elementary schools had the most enrollees for school year 2022-2023 with 133,377 students, 18,290 of them in private schools.
For public junior high schools, there are 82,410; public senior high with 36,254; and 1,440 in integrated schools.
Enrollees in public elementary schools decreased by 76.25 percent, public junior high dropped by 81.93 percent, integrated schools, 74.27 percent, and private schools, 76.78 percent.
Enrolment in public senior high school, however, went up by 101.57 percent.
All 580 schools under the division are ready to start the school year 2022-2023, said Ian Arnold Arnaez, spokesperson of the division.
Arnaez said schools will definitely open on Aug. 22, following the schedule suggested by the DepEd national office, whether via limited face to face classes or blended learning until Oct. 31.
The DepEd ordered that the five-day in-person classes will resume on Nov. 2.
However, Arnaez said that schools that were heavily affected by typhoons and have damaged facilities “will have to continue with remote learning.”/GB
