DepEd, not rallies, to blame for low enrollment – ACT

[Lee]

IMO Ms Duterte needs to find a new hobby----constant finger pointing accomplishes nothing.

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MANILA, Philippines — Instead of blaming the drop in enrollees this school year on protests, Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte should instead address the “education crisis” the country is facing, the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) said yesterday.

“There’s nothing wrong in questioning and holding DepEd (Department of Education) accountable for the 2 million drop in enrollment. It is the Department’s responsibility to ensure that no student is left behind. Why is Sara Duterte so allergic to questions?” ACT chairman Vladimer Quetua said in a statement.

The DepEd should look into the root causes of the education sector’s problems that left students unable to go back to school this year, such as financial problems that households face due to the country’s economic problems, Quetua said.

“In fact, that’s why we went to the streets to drum up calls for education, teachers, and students. This accusation of Sara Duterte is baseless. She’s constantly blaming the critics while nothing is being done to find out the reasons why enrollments are decreasing,” he added.

In a speech earlier this week, Duterte blamed protests for the drop in enrollment figures for school year 2023-2024, slamming ACT Teachers’ party-list Rep. France Castro for blaming DepEd.

DepEd remains short of its 28.8 million enrollment target for SY 2023-2024 as the total number of enrolled students as of Sept. 13 morning is 26.7 million.

“There is no wonder why, a significant drop-out of enrollees occurred. It is clear that the protest actions calling out the government’s inefficiency is not the reason why a Filipino youth’s right to education is disenfranchised,” Quetua said.

“We have been saying for a long time that the education budget allocated by the government for the education of its youth is not enough. This responsibility is passed on to relatives who only have a meager salary, not enough to eat. Is it any wonder that many choose to just work and not enroll?” he added.

 

DepEd, not rallies, to blame for low enrollment – ACT (msn.com)