EDUCATION Secretary Leonor Briones yesterday said 748 out of 14,435 private schools in the country have filed for temporary closure due to the migration of students and teachers to public schools.
Briones pointed to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) as the culprit, saying: “There is only one factor, it’s COVID-19. Our economy went down due to the virus. There are parents who lost their jobs, like OFWs going home because the company where they are working had closed; again this is due to COVID-19.”
She said the private schools that have filed for temporary closure intend to open anew when the situation improves.
Briones noted that for the past two weeks, the DepEd has not recorded any student migration from private to public schools.
As of September 9, 2020, the DepEd’s National Enrollment data showed 2,029,202 students enrolled in private schools nationwide, including state universities and colleges (SUCs), which is just 47.14% of the 4,304,676 enrollees last year.
Classes in public schools are set to open on October 5. — Noel Talacay