ILOILO City – In just two weeks, basic education learners enrolled in Western Visayas for school year (SY) 2023-2024 have reached 1,314,873.
Of these enrollees, 1,143,846 are in public schools; 168,870 are in private schools; and 2,157 are in state universities and colleges (SUCs) and local universities and colleges (LUCs), data from the Department of Education (DepEd) Region 6 showed as of 8 a.m. on Friday, Aug. 18.
Below is the breakdown per Schools Division Office.
* Aklan – 90,892
* Antique – 75,530
* Bacolod City – 121,075
* Bago City – 30,676
* Cadiz City – 30,817
* Capiz – 91,287
* Escalante City – 18,833
* Guimaras – 31,713
* Himamaylan City – 16,958
* Iloilo – 310,548
* Iloilo City – 97,669
* Kabankalan City – 38, 436
* La Carlota City – 10,202
* Negros Occidental – 204,806
* Passi City – 16,267
* Roxas City – 28,399
* Sagay City – 27,064
* San Carlos City – 21,124
* Silay City – 24,805
* Victorias City – 16, 889
Hernani Escullar Jr., DepEd-6 information officer, said the number is expected to be the same as last school year or may increase as the last day of enrollment, Aug. 26, draws near.
As of February 2023, there were 2,087,486 enrolled learners in the region: public schools – 1,886,720; private schools – 197,171, and SUCs and LUCs – 3,595, DepEd-6 data showed.
Under DepEd Order No. 022, Series of 2023 titled “Implementing Guidelines on the School Calendar and Activities for the School Year 2023-2024” signed by DepEd secretary Sara Duterte, classes resume on Aug. 29.
But Escullar explained that some private schools already started classes. What is important, he added, is that private schools meet the required number of school calendar days and must be approved by DepEd.
“Pursuant to Republic Act No. 11480, otherwise known as An Act to Lengthen the School Calendar from 200 days to not more than 220 class days, the SY 2023-2024 shall formally open on Tuesday, Aug. 29, 2023, and end on Friday, June 14, 2024, inclusive of the end-of-the-school-year rites,” read part of the DepEd Order No. 022.
It added: “For the Alternative Learning System, learning intervention shall formally open on the same date as the public formal basic education, Aug. 29, 2023. The program duration shall depend on the learners’ individual learning agreements based on the results of the pre-assessments and the recognition of their prior learning.”
It further said: “Private schools and state/local universities and colleges may adopt these omnibus implementing guidelines on the school calendar and shall follow the provisions stipulated under RA 11480 concerning the required number of class days and the opening of the school year. Schools shall report any inevitable deviation from these guidelines in advance to their respective regional offices.”/PN
