EDUCATION Secretary Sonny Angara said 98 percent of schools nationwide opened classes yesterday, adding that nearly 20 million students enrolled for school year 2024-2025.
Angara also said that 840 public schools postponed the start of classes due to the effects of typhoon “Carina.”
“This is only a small percentage; it’s less than 2 percent of the schools in the whole country. This means that 98 percent of schools have opened classes,” Angara said while visiting the Carmona National High School.
Last Sunday, the DepEd said 979 schools have canceled the opening of classes. As of SY 2023-2024, DepEd data showed there are 47,818 public schools nationwide.
There are 20,598,072 students enrolled in both public and private schools, including SUCs and LUCs and the Alternative Learning System (ALS) as of noon yesterday, according to the DepEd.
Majority of them, 17.9 million, are enrolled in public schools. Most of the enrollees came from Calabarzon at three million, followed by Central Luzon and the National Capital Region (NCR) with over 2.2 million enrollees each.
Of the schools that postponed the start of their classes, 224 were in the NCR, 452 in Region 3, 66 in Region IV-A, and four in Region 13.
Angara said schools that suspended classes yesterday will have to conduct Saturday classes.
“Kailangan ‘pagka na-miss ‘yung week day, so ‘yung weekend will make up (If you miss classes on a week day, you make up for these during the weekend),” he said.
He also said that students who have not enrolled have until September this year to do so.
“Usually, the enrollment period is continuous. Many of them have already enrolled three to four weeks before the opening of classes, and the enrollment is still open until September,” he explained.
The Teachers’ Dignity Coalition (TDC) expressed the hope that Angara would be open to dialogue and collaboration with stakeholders, particularly teachers over various issues, such as salary increases.
In a statement, Benjo Basas, TDC chairman, said they have outlined various issues aired by teachers, foremost of which is the salary increase.
“We strongly urge Secretary Angara to give serious consideration to these proposals, particularly the immediate action on salary increases for teachers,” Basas said, adding the salary hike for teachers is long overdue.
“While we understand that increasing salaries is beyond the DepEd Secretary’s direct authority, his support is crucial for advancing legislative efforts,” Basas said.
