SAFE EDUCATION. Dr. Roel Bermejo, Department of Education-Division of Iloilo schools division superintendent, says on Thursday (June 25, 2020) that parents in the province want to ensure the safety of their children before they register them in schools. As of noon of Thursday, 186, 355 out of the 453, 817 total learners were already enrolled. (PNA photo by Gail Momblan)
ILOILO CITY -- During this pandemic, the Department of Education-Division of Iloilo (DepEd) said parents should consider the safety of their children first before enrolling them in school.
Dr. Roel Bermejo, DepEd-Iloilo schools division superintendent, said in a media interview, that as of Thursday noon, 186,355 learners were enrolled out of the 453,817 total target.
Bermejo said the safety during this pandemic affected the turnout for the enrollment.
“Maybe one of the reasons here is that they (want to ensure) that the children are safe,” he said.
Others may also be considering face-to-face enrollment while some were not “reached out” to be encouraged to register their children.
He assured the enrollees will be accepted even after June 30.
The number of enrolled learners, meanwhile, is the product of the cooperation of the local government unit officials, village officials, and parents.
“Our parents have abide with the directive of the DepEd Central Office because our government is implementing remote or online enrollment on the first two weeks of June,” he said, adding that the online enrollment and the dropbox enrollment system in the villages are ongoing.
“We thank the cooperation of the LGU officials, up to the barangay level, because they have helped us in the information dissemination.
"The barangay officials man our dropbox centers to ensure that our students in the community can enroll through the enrolment survey forms,” he said.
He said more than 85 percent of the current number of enrollees prefer blended learning, which is a mixture of different approaches to teaching and learning, and will be adjusted based on the situation of students and teachers.
Bermejo also said more than 80 percent of the 21, 824 teaching and non-teaching personnel own electronic devices for online learning.
The data is based on the survey conducted by the division sometime in April.
“We thank our educators because they are more than willing to invest so that they have something to use whether online or other modalities,” he said.
The schools in the province also have “e-classrooms” for teachers to use when they lack resources.
The “e-classrooms”, which have computers and internet connectivity, are part of the digitalization program of the DepEd, he said. (PNA)
