The Department of Education (DepEd) anticipates that 28 million students will return to school for the upcoming School Year (SY) 2023-2024.
During the 2023 Oplan Balik Eskwela launch and Command Conference on Tuesday, Education Undersecretary for Governance and Field Operations Revsee Escobedo stressed the significance of bringing together partners from various sectors, including health, safety, facilities, transportation, and engagement, to ensure a smooth and orderly opening of classes across public schools.
“We expect that this coming 2023-2024, we are welcoming 28 million learners who will troop to more than 47,000 schools nationwide,” Escobedo said.
“Since we are still on the learning recovery mode, opening of another school year is very critical to improving the learning outcomes,” he added.
The annual Oplan Balik Eskwela initiative aims to collaborate with various parties to address public concerns regarding class resumption.
Education Undersecretary and Spokesperson Michael Poa noted that over four million learners participated in the Early Registration and that the expected enrollment is based on assumptions.
“We are expecting more than the 28.4 million learners last year but those are just based on assumptions,” Poa stated.
“Our growth rate is around 1.7 percent per year, that’s the additional of enrollees we get per year. If we are looking at that, our Planning Service is saying that around 28.8 million yung inaasahan to enroll this year based on the growth rate,” he added.
Enrollment in public schools began on August 7 and will continue until August 26.
Meanwhile, actual numbers will be assessed during the enrollment period to ascertain if the projected 28.8 million enrollees will be met based on the growth rate.
