Due to major changes in the school calendar for the school year (SY) 2020-2021, the Department of Education (DepEd) will conduct the early registration for SY 2021-2022 from March 26 to April 30 this year.

The month-long activity is initiated to ensure that incoming learners are registered for the school year and help the DepEd better prepare for possible issues and concerns that may arise, as stipulated in DepEd Order No. 3, series of 2018, or the Basic Education Enrollment policy.

“All incoming Kindergarten, Grades 1, 7, and 11 in public elementary and secondary schools shall pre-register to allow the Department to make necessary preparations and incoming plans for the coming school year,” Education Secretary Leonor Magtolis Briones said in a news release on Monday.

She said Grades 2-6, 8-10, and 12 are considered preregistered and will not need to participate in the early registration.

Early registration is mandatory for public schools while optional for private schools. Private schools, however, are mandated to strictly implement the Kindergarten cut-off age under DO No. 20, series of 2018.

Meanwhile, DepEd reminded schools and the public to still follow precautionary measures against Covid-19 transmission for the early registration activity.

“In the context of the prevailing Covid-19 public health emergency, the conduct of early registration shall be done remotely in areas under General Community Quarantine (GCQ). In-person registration through parents or guardians may be allowed in areas under Modified General Community Quarantine (MGCQ) provided physical distancing and health and safety protocols are strictly observed,” Briones said.

Last year, the DepEd adopted remote enrollment in the first two weeks of the activity in line with strict physical distancing and community quarantine measures. On the third week, physical enrollment was done in coordination with the local government units (LGUs) and physical enrollment platforms established by the schools.

In previous years, regional and school division offices organized teams that will lead the advocacy campaigns. Schools designated early registration desks in the school premises manned by individuals tasked to handle the registration.

They also undertook activities such as house-to-house campaigns, dissemination of print materials, social media information campaigns, and engagement with parents, barangay officials, civic and people’s organizations, and other stakeholders.

The early registration was introduced to help the Department anticipate the number of enrollees for the coming school year and instituted in DepEd Order No. 3, series of 2018.

Aside from incoming Kinder and Grades 1, 7, and 11 students, early registration also seeks to locate, identify and register out of school youth and children who may be identified as living with disabilities; living in an off-grid community; living in a barangay without a school; living in a geographically isolated area; displaced due to natural disaster; living in an armed conflict area; living in an area with a high level of criminality/drug abuse; having a chronic illness; having nutritional problems; a 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 campaign ensures the right of all school-aged learners to enroll and be equally provided with quality, accessible, relevant, and liberating education.