IN CONSIDERATION of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, the Department of Education (DepEd) has postponed the early registration for school year 2021-2022.
Salustiano Jimenez, DepEd 7 director, in a press conference on Thursday, March 25, 2021, said the DepEd central office issued DepEd Memorandum No. 8 series of 2021 that deferred the conduct of early registration from the original schedule of January and February 2021 to March 26 to April 30.
Early registration focuses on gathering enrollees for the kindergarten level and incoming students for Grades 1, 7 and 11.
“We’re also doing this so that the schools can count how many classrooms, supplies and teachers are needed,” he said.
Moreover, Cristito Eco, DepEd 7 assistant director, said they encourage parents of eligible children to participate in the early registration as this activity, aside from the intent of ensuring that all the incoming kindergarten and Grades 1,7 and 11 students will be counted by DepEd, will also help them gather data which will be vital in providing basic education for all learners.
He said the early registration will help DepEd 7 identify and locate learners living with disabilities; living in off-grid areas or geographically isolated areas; living in barangays without schools; those who are displaced due to natural disasters; those living in armed conflict-affected areas; victims of child abuse and economic exploitation; and those who are no longer in school, but are still interested in going back to school, among others.
Jimenez said various modalities will be adopted in the conduct of early registration depending on the feasibility based on the situation of an area.
He said this can be done through the help of partnered purok-leaders, online, through the use of applications or even house-to-house visits by teachers if applicable to the area.
Eco also emphasized that there are no fees required during registration in all DepEd schools.
“There will be no amount collected. If any, it will be for other fees such as the PTA (Parents-Teachers Association) fee, which can be paid later, not during the registration,” he said.
He also said those children who lack documentary requirements can still be registered temporarily until they can submit all the required documents. (WBS)