The number of enrolled students for this school year in the Ilocos Region is at 1.04 million, 18.93 percent lower than the 1.29 million recorded last school year.
In an interview on Tuesday, Department of Education (DepEd) Ilocos Region Public Affairs Unit head Cesar Bucsit said none of the 14 School Division Offices (SDOs) in the region have reached a 100-percent enrolment turnout, although Batac in Ilocos Norte attained 96.48 percent.
Bucsit said they are optimistic that the number of enrollees will still increase as the DepEd continues accepting students until Sept. 30.
“Patuloy pa rin ang ating massive information dissemination kasama ang ating SDOs in the entire region para mahikayat ang ating mga magulang na ipa-enroll ang kanilang mga anak. (Our massive information dissemination is continuing with the SDOs in the entire region to encourage parents to enroll their children),” he said.
Bucsit attributed the significant drop in the enrollment turnout to the lingering threat of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).
Amid the pandemic, the DepEd will still utilize blended methods of instruction, such as modular learning or online classes, depending on what is suitable for the students or the teachers.
“Ating ipinapaliwanag na malabo itong kanilang sinasabi na posibleng pagkahawa dahil sa Covid-19 considering na wala namang face-to-face interaction na magaganap. (We are explaining to them that the fear of possibly being infected with Covid-19 is unclear considering there is no face-to-face interaction),” he added.
Bucsit further assured parents that minimum health and safety protocols will be strictly observed when claiming the learning modules of their children.
Some local government units in Pangasinan have moved the opening of classes to Oct. 4 from Sept. 13 due to the surge of Covid-19 cases in the province.
Source: Philippines News Agency