PASIG CITY, January 17, 2020 – To ensure that all new entrants for Kindergarten, Grades 1, 7, and 11 learners in public and private elementary and secondary schools nationwide are registered for the incoming school year 2020-2021, the Department of Education (DepEd) is set to open its early registration desks from February 1 to March 6, 2020 as the Chinese New Year falls on January 25.
Through DepEd Order (DO) No. 3, s. 2018, otherwise known as the “Basic Education Enrolment Policy,” Briones stated that early registration seeks to locate, identify and register out-of-school children and youth in the community who may be characterized as: living with disability/ies, living in off-grid/far-flung community; a barangay without a school, or a geographically isolated area; displaced due to natural disaster; living in an armed conflict area or area with high level of criminality/drug abuse; having chronic illness or nutritional problem/s; victim of child abuse or economic exploitation; stateless/undocumented; in conflict with the law; living on the streets; and no longer in school but interested in going back to school.
The early registration policy prescribed that registrants must satisfy the following eligibility rules:
| Level | Eligibility |
| Kindergarten | · 5 years old on or before August 31, 2020 |
| Grade 1 | · Kinder completer or;
· PEPT Passer for Kinder Level or; · 6 years old and above by August 31, 2020 but not Kinder Completer who assessed Grade 1-ready as per ECD checklist may also pre-register (DO 47, s. 2016) |
| Grade 7 | · Grade 6 completer or;
· PEPT Passer for Grade 6 or; · ALS A&E Elementary Passer |
| Grade 11 | · Grade 10 completer or;
· PEPT Passer for Grade 10 or; · ALS A&E Secondary passer |
For Kindergarten and Grade 1, a Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) or National Statistics Authority (NSO) birth certificate must be submitted. In case of its absence, Local Civil Registrar (LCR) birth certificate, baptismal, or barangay certificate can be submitted.
Learners must also accomplish the Basic Education Enrolment Form during early registration.
The DepEd’s early registration policy upholds the right of all school-aged learners to enroll and be equally provided with quality, accessible, relevant, and liberating basic education.
Sulong EduKalidad campaign
Meanwhile, DepEd has recently launched its Sulong EduKalidad campaign aimed at addressing the challenge in quality of basic education. This initiative is in response to the rapidly changing learning environment of present and future learners and will introduce aggressive reforms to globalize the quality of basic education in the Philippines.
“We always remind ourselves that our constitutional mandate to provide every Filipino not only access to education but to basic quality education. We have realized that we are facing the reality that we still have much to do in responding to the constitutional mandate as far as quality education is concerned,” the Education chief explained during the launch.
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