Philippines opens schools virtually again with no nod yet on classroom learning

Parents check the self-learning modules and books distributed at General Roxas Elementary School in Quezon City on Sept. 9, 2021.

Christian Deiparine - Philstar.com

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines on Monday began a new school year for over 24 million students under a learning setup still carried out remotely with no government approval yet for limited in-person classes. 

Enrollment figures as of early morning of September 13 was 93.8% of last year's turnout, or 24.60 million against the 26.22 million in 2020. 

Broken down, most students or 18.56 million are in public schools, only 1.44 million in private, while 198,297 in the Department of Education's Alternative Learning System. Those in ALS make up only 33.08% of the 599,365 last year.

DepEd Undersecretary Nepomuceno Malaluan said there is indication those who skipped schooling in 2020 would be returning this year. The agency said it will continue accepting enrollment until September 30. 

Full story: https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2021/09/13/2126826/philippines-opens-schools-virtually-again-no-nod-yet-classroom-learning