425 private schools closed since 2020  

MANILA, Philippines — Up to 425 private elementary and high schools nationwide have closed since 2020, according to the Department of Education.

DepEd spokesman Michael Poa said the closure of schools in the past two years affected 20,838 students.

He said around 10,000 of the students transferred to public schools.

DepEd said around 800 private schools suspended operations at the height of the COVID pandemic. Many of these schools appeared to have reopened.

Early this week, the Colegio de San Lorenzo in Quezon City announced its closure this school year due to financial instability and low enrollment.

Poa said DepEd is looking into how it can assist private schools.

“The private schools, in terms of management, have autonomy,” Poa said. “We have reasonable supervision and regulation in our private schools. I guess we will see in the coming days kung ano ang pwede namin maitulong.”

In Central Luzon, records show that 84.7 percent of students have enrolled in public schools this schoolyear.

Michelle Lacson, DepEd-Central Luzon information officer, said enrollment quick count data showed that as of 5 p.m. on Thursday, there were 2,512,768 enrollees in the region.

Of the number, 2,512,768 enrolled in public schools and 371,365 or 14.47 percent enrolled in private schools.

Only .0034 percent or 8,792 enrolled in local colleges and universities.

Lacson said there are 3,687 public and 1,500 private schools in Central Luzon.

There are 88,404 public school teachers in the region. No records were available on the number of teachers in private schools.

DepEd said there would be no extension of the enrollment in public schools, which was set only until Monday. – Ramon Efren Lazaro