In a Facebook post on their official page, the Department of Education (DepEd) announced that as of August 21, the total number of enrollees for SY 2020 has reached 23,573,126 nationwide, 84.82% of SY 2019.
The data also showed that more students were enrolled in public school for the year. Of the 23.5 million incoming students, 21,775,473 learners enrolled in public schools, while 1,753,047 enrolled in private schools--only 40.72% of 2019's total number.
"DepEd is still anticipating increase in enrollment figures as reports from the field continue to come in. Schools will also accept late enrollees even beyond the enrollment period, as stated in DepEd Order No. 003, s. 2018," they wrote in the post.
Earlier in August, DepEd announced that they moved the opening of classes to October 5, due to stricter quarantine rules in some areas. Schools outside of the areas under modified enhanced community quarantine however were encouraged to continue with orientations, dry runs, and delivery of learning materials for online classes and blended learning, as face-to-face classes are still not allowed for the 2020 academic year.