ILOILO City – More than 276,000 learners in Western Visayas have completed early registration for Kindergarten, Grade 1, Grade 7, and Grade 11 for the school year 2025-2026, data from the Department of Education (DepEd) Region 6 showed.
As of the close of early registration on February 15, the total number of early registrants is 276,528. Of this number, 75,894 are Kindergarten students, 75,252 are in Grade 7, and 72,826 are in Grade 11, said Hernani Escullar Jr., information officer of DepEd-6.
Early registration began on January 15.
Last school year (2024-2025), 335,155 learners in the region registered early.
However, Escullar clarified that the department does not focus on comparing data, as the goal of DepEd is inclusivity.
“This means that whether the number of early registrants increases or decreases, what matters most is ensuring that incoming Kindergarten, Grade 1, Grade 7, and Grade 11 learners are able to register early,” Escullar said.
DepEd acknowledges that some learners may have missed the early registration due to unavoidable circumstances, such as a decline in birth rates in certain years or migration of parents outside the region.
Escullar emphasized that incoming Kindergarten, Grade 1, Grade 7, and Grade 11 learners who were unable to register early will still be accommodated during the official enrollment period for the 2025-2026 school year.
The department is currently awaiting guidelines from DepEd’s Central Office regarding the school calendar for the upcoming year.
Escullar further explained that early registration is crucial as it serves as the basis for DepEd’s planning and forecasting, especially in properly allocating resources for the next school year.
For other grade levels, such as Grade 2, Grade 3, Grade 4, Grade 5, Grade 6, and Grade 12, these students are automatically considered pre-registered and are not required to undergo early registration.
“Other grade levels are already considered pre-registered in our system,” Escullar added./PN
