Lack of enrollees caused 440 private schools to suspend operations - DepEd

The education sector is one of the most affected because of the coronavirus with a number of private schools halting its operations for the coming school year. 

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On Monday, the Department of Education (DepEd) announced the temporarily ceasing operations of 440 private schools this coming academic year because of low numbers of enrollees.

Undersecretary Revsee Escobedo said that the small private schools that suspended its operations are those that have a student population of 100 and below. According to DepEd's data, of the 14,435 private schools in the country, 440 have so far said they will not operate for school year 2020 to 2021.

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Central Luzon had the most number of private schools that will suspend operations with 88, followed by Calabarzon with 67, and the National Capital Region with 54. While the Bangsamoro region has yet to submit figures on private schools that will not be operating this year.

Escobedo said that they cannot tell yet if these schools are permanently closing down as they are still validating and consolidating reports from the schools.

DepEd officials earlier said the low enrollment in private schools was due to the coronavirus pandemic's effects on the income of families, many private school learners transferred to public.

As of Monday, private schools have registered a total of 1,785,323 students, which is just 40% of last year's 4.4 million enrollees for private institutions.

The number of private school students who have transferred to public schools reached 398,010 as of Monday, according to the DepEd.

The DepEd has allowed private schools to start classes earlier than October 5, provided they would use the distance learning approach.

Escobedo said 1,394 private schools have started classes as of August 24. More than 6,000 schools are expected to open between August 24 to October 5, he added.

Government seeks to provide help and assistance to teachers working in private schools whose livelihoods were affected by the pandemic. They are included in the Bayanihan to Recover as one Act.