DepEd issues last-minute reminder for early enrollment

The Department of Education made a last-minute reminder Friday to parents to enrol their children — especially out-of-school children and learners with disability — to register early for the coming school year.

 

Education Secretary Armin Luistro said the early registration will also allow education officials to make the needed preparations for the school year that starts in June.

 

"Meron kaming apela lalo sa may kapansanan na anak, out-of-school youths at hindi nagiisip na makatapos ng high school man lang. Ito ang ating hiling sa barangay captains, hikayatin ang taong ito at magulang magpalista," Luistro said in an interview on dzBB radio.

 

He said Saturday's early registration will be held the whole day.

 

Those who want to register their children should bring their children's birth certificate.

 

Luistro said the early registration will afford the DepEd enough time to prepare for the coming school year in terms of classrooms, textbooks and desks.

 

Also, Luistro said they decided to hold the registration in just one day because past registrations with successive weekends saw parents registering their children only on the last day.

Earlier, the DepEd said it is hoping to have out-of-school youths and out-of-school children and learners with disability avail of the expanded early school registration for School Year 2012-2013 on Saturday.

 

The DepEd said this is one step further than last year's early registration that covered only kindergarten, Grade 1, and first year high school students.

 

“We have set aside this day for the early registration of out-of-school children, out-of-school–youth, children and youth with learning difficulties along with kinder, Grade 1 and incoming first year high school students,” Luistro earlier said in a news release on the Official Gazette website.

 

The early registration seeks to reach out to all five-year-old children to enroll in kindergarten and for six-year olds to enlist for Grade 1.

 

It aims as well to guarantee enrolment of OSC and OSY from the disadvantaged groups, indigenous peoples and street children ages 5 to 18 in their preferred delivery system.

 

"They can choose between formal schooling through alternative delivery mode (ADM) or informal mode via the alternative learning system (ALS)," the DepEd said.

 

Education intervention

 

The DepEd said the early registration also aims to keep track of OSCs and OSYs with disabilities whose ages range from 5 to 18 across grade levels, and provide them with appropriate education intervention.

 

“The state mandates that all Filipinos with or without learning disabilities must have access to education and the early registration aims to count them in,” Luistro said.

 

Luistro has asked the central, regional and division offices of DepEd to prepare the Three-Year Catch Up Plan in Basic Education from School Years 2012-2013 to 2014-2015 to accommodate the increasing number of learners.

 

Sectors' help enlisted

 

The early registration will also enlist the cooperation of the local government units, barangay officials, parents-teachers associations, civil society, and the business sector.

 

“With the help of our partners in education in this undertaking, we can make the necessary preparations and address potential resource needs in time for the opening of classes in June,” Luistro said. — RSJ, GMA News