SAN FERNANDO CITY – The Department of Education (DepEd) Region 1 has already registered more than 174,700 learners as a result of its intensive campaign on Early Registration scheduled from February 1 to March 6 this year. 

Education Secretary Leonor Magtolis Briones, through DepEd Order No. 3, s. 2018, otherwise known as the “Basic Education Enrolment Policy,” stated that early registration seeks to locate, identify and register out-of-school children and youth in the community who may be characterized as: living with disability, living in far-flung community; a barangay without a school, or a geographically isolated area; displaced due to natural disaster; living in an armed conflict area or area with high level of criminality or drug abuse; having chronic illness or nutritional problems; victim of child abuse or economic exploitation; undocumented; in conflict with the law; living on the streets; and no longer in school but interested in going back to school.

Early Registration also ensures that all new entrants for Kindergarten, Grades 1, 7, and 11 learners in public and private elementary and secondary schools nationwide are registered for the incoming school year 2020-2021.

DepEd Regional Office 1 Policy, Planning, and Research Division Statistician I Joey M. Pimentel, said that the number was based on the consolidated reports submitted by the 14 Schools Division Offices (SDO) in the region.

Records show that the SDO1 Pangasinan in Lingayen has the largest number of registrants with 52,323 learners.

The SDO Vigan City, on the other hand, has the least number of new entrants with 1,870 learners.

Of the 2,979 schools that submitted their reports, 41,667 new entrants have registered for Kindergarten; 53,701 for Grade 1; 41,215 in Grade 7, and 4,221 for Grade 11.

Pimentel expressed optimism that this data would still increase before the end of early registration.

The Region has 1,291,071 total number of enrollees from Kindergarten to Grade 12 this school year.

By Cesar S. Bucsit, ORD-PAU