3.3 Million Sign Up On First Day Of Enrollment

Over 3.3 million students signed up on the first day of enrollment in public elementary and high schools on Monday, July 25, according to Vice President and Department of Education (DepEd) Secretary Sara Duterte.

“I am happy to share with everyone that our enrollment for the first day was at 3.3 million already as compared to our first day last year, which was at 222,000 only,” Duterte said during the post-State of the Nation Address (SONA) briefing of Cabinet members on Tuesday, July 26.

Over the weekend, Duterte issued the guidelines for the enrollment process from July 25 to Aug. 22. She restored the in-person enrollment process ahead of the planned implementation of full face-to-face classes later this year.

“This may be done in the schools where parents and/or learners can physically process the enrollment while observing minimum health and safety standards,” read the guidelines, citing the wearing of face masks, temperature checks upon entry, availability of alcohol and physical distancing.

Students and their parents may also submit enrollment forms online or through drop boxes set up in schools and other areas.

The DepEd this year adopted the Enhanced Basic Education Enrollment Form (BEEF).

Incoming Kindergarten and Grades 7 and 11 students shall communicate or reaffirm their intent to enroll in a public school by submitting the form, while other public school students who have existing accounts in the DepEd’s Learner Information System will still need to update their information by filling out the Enhanced BEEF.

During the post-SONA briefing, Duterte urged Filipinos to participate in the upcoming Brigada Eskwela that will be conducted to prepare schools for the opening of classes.

The next school year will begin on Aug. 22 in public elementary and high schools. Full in-person classes will be implemented by Nov. 2.

SHS vouchers

The DepEd announced that applications to the senior high school (SHS) voucher program will be accepted only until Friday, at the online voucher application portal at http://ovap.peac.org.ph.

Implemented in partnership with the Private Education Assistance Committee, the program provides qualified students with vouchers to cover the cost of their senior high school education in private schools and state and local universities and colleges.

Voucher recipients will receive a subsidy of as much as P22,500 per year to cover their tuition and other school fees. The subsidy amount will depend on the category and location of the school where the student will enroll in. Only junior high school graduates from private schools are required to go through the application process, as the rest are already automatically qualified.

Among those that are automatically qualified are Grade 10 completers from public schools and local and state universities and colleges, as well as those from private schools who are al-ready grantees of the Education Service Contracting program.

Unqualified for the program are students who graduated from high school in 2015 or earlier, incoming Grade 12 students not part of the program when they were in Grade 11 and non-Filipino students.

Application results will be released on Aug. 22, the DepEd said.