DepEd: 26 million students enrolled for School Year 2026-2027

The Department of Education has so far logged 26 million enrollees for School Year 2026-2027 and is expecting more students to enroll once classes open on June 8, a DepEd official said Sunday.

“As of Friday last week, we have close to 26 million learners who have already enrolled,” DepEd Assistant Secretary Jocelyn Andaya told Super Radyo dzBB. “Alam naming mayroon pa ring mag-e-enroll ngayong pasukan hanggang sa katapusan ng Hunyo.”

(We know that there will still be people enrolling this school year until the end of June.)

She added that DepEd is expecting approximately 26.4 million enrollees for School Year 2026-2027, which is about the same as last year's figure.

Andaya explained that some students, especially senior high school students, could not enroll before classes began due to work, while others came from provinces.

Classes begin on June 8

Andaya also clarified that classes will proceed as scheduled on June 8, despite reports of a possible class suspension.

“Fake news 'yan (class suspension). Sabi nga ni DepEd Secretary Sonny Angara, “Handang-handa na tayo sa DepEd para i-welcome ang bata at sabihin sa kanila na ang kanilang eskwelahan ay handa na, ito ay malinis, ito ay maayos, at ligtas sila dito,” Andaya said. “Tuloy na tuloy na sa June ang pasukan.”

(The class suspension reports are fake news. As Secretary Sonny Angara said, we at DepEd are fully prepared to welcome the students and assure them that their schools are ready, clean, organized, and safe. The opening of classes in June will go on as planned.)

DepEd has launched a nationwide school readiness tracking system to identify infrastructure, sanitation, technology, and learning material gaps in public schools under the “Project HANDA” platform.

It will monitor key indicators related to physical facilities, learner support, and instructional readiness to help education officials determine where resources and interventions are most needed.

Angara said the initiative is intended to improve data collection and guide decision-making as schools prepare to welcome students for the new academic year.

The agency also released new guidelines to help school heads determine class suspensions and select the appropriate learning modes before, during, and after emergencies.

Under DepEd Order No. 14 series of 2026, school heads are authorized to coordinate with the Schools Division Superintendent and local government units to implement granular suspension of classes based on the actual situation of the community.

This is to ensure that class suspensions target the needs of affected classrooms or grade levels, rather than enforcing blanket cancellations across the entire division.

Meanwhile, the Philippine National Police (PNP) on Sunday said it has deployed more than 55,000 security personnel under the Oplan Balik-Eskwela for School Year 2026–2027.

This includes 28,751 PNP personnel, 4,079 personnel from other units, and 22,677 force multipliers from partner agencies and community organizations, the PNP said. —KG, GMA News