Data from the Department of Education is showing a few students in the Philippines are enrolling in private schools. The damage to small private schools will lead to many being closed down after the lockdown is over.
Private schools in the Philippines are struggling to raise money that would keep them afloat during and after the coronavirus lockdown. This is after a countrywide school closure, that has left many schools without their usual sources of income.
Small private schools in problem
The Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) is also concerned that the lockdown is resulting in fewer students enrolling in private schools. The latest data from the Department of Education showed only 318,930 students had enrolled in private schools out of a possible 10.5 million eligible students.
The data also showed that public school enrollments had gone up as compared to previous years. The private school enrollment for the academic year represented only 7 percent of 4.2 million students who were enrolled in a private school in the last academic year.
A Drop in school admissions
ACT said such a drop in the number of enrollment in private schools would be devastating to small private schools which are already struggling to keep their staff as the lockdown continues. The group also indicated that, as a measure of cutting costs, these small private schools had started firing non-permanent staff, and they were worried that the situation may become dire, which would result in the closure of these institutions.
ACT secretary-general Raymond Basilio said if we continue with the same rate of admissions the private school sector is experiencing, there was a possibility that the number of admitted students in private schools equals one million or less. In two weeks, he indicated that private schools had only managed to register slightly over 300,000 students.
The Philippines is preparing to reopen public schools on 24th August amidst the spread of coronavirus in the country. There will be no face to face classes in all schools according to the Department of Education. Private schools have been allowed to open earlier than other schools, but must ensure the safety of students is observed.
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