ILOILO City – Pandemic-induced economic fallout and travel restrictions were forcing kids out of private education institutions in Western Visayas.
According to the Department of Education (DepEd), 67 of these schools opted not to open this school year – 61 closed temporarily while six permanently.
In school year 2020-2021, 14 private schools permanently closed.
Several parents who used to enroll their kids in private schools stepped back since the onset of the health crisis, according to Hernani Escullar Jr., information officer of DepEd-6.
Escullar noted a significant gap between the number of private school enrollees this school year with 141,270 (as of Sept. 18) and that of school year 2020-2021 with 193,063.
But the Education department hopes to narrow this by Sept. 30, the last day of enrollment, according to Escullar.
“Parents, who only rely on the economy, opted to transfer their kids to public schools,” Escullar told Panay News.
“Naapektuhan ila palangabuhian. Iban nadulaan obra, iban nabudlayan na sagad travel because of restrictions,” he said.
In this case, Escullar said the private education institutions may have foreseen “nga indi na economically viable ang ila nga eskwelahan.”
Private and public schools in the region opened their kinder, elementary, secondary including junior high school and senior high school classes on Sept. 13.
As of Sept. 18, Western Visayas logged 2,212,465 enrollees – 2,069,410 (public); 141,270 (private); and 1,785 (state universities and colleges).
The number of enrollees this school year is higher compared to that last year which only exceeded 2.1 million.
Meanwhile, Escullar said DepEd-6 was thankful they did not encounter major concerns in the first week of class opening.
Most of the parents’ only concerns were when to schedule the retrieval or return of their children’s modules, as well as the submission of their children’s birth certificates.
DepEd-6 director Ramir Uytico encouraged the parents to guide their children in answering the modules./PN
