Transfer from private to public schools may hurt students — church official

The head of the country's Catholic schools voiced concern over possible negative effects on private school students suddenly transferred to public schools. Catholic Educational Association of the Philippines (CEAP) president Msgr. Gerardo Santos said such transfers may hurt the students’ “psychological and emotional" side. “Shifting to other schools is really hard especially when a student is used to cultures in private schools. Shifting to a state college and university is a bit difficult," he said in an interview on Church-run Radio Veritas. Excerpts of the interview were posted Tuesday night on the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines news site. Santos also admitted Catholic schools continue to experience “a downtrend of enrollment" each year. But he said students should still be open to such a transfer and not stop schooling temporarily due to economic reasons. “As much as possible, they should not stop in their studies," he said. On Tuesday, some 23.43 million students returned to public and private elementary and high schools to kick off the new school year. Education officials noted enrollments in public schools have risen this year, partly due to students leaving the private school system. Education Department figures show there are a total 20.17 million or 86 percent of the students enrolled in public schools, while 3.26 million or 14 percent are enrolled in private schools. — LBG/RSJ, GMANews.TV