MANILA — Public schools will continue accepting early registrants for the next school year until the end of May, the Department of Education said Thursday.

The early registration for incoming Kindergarten, Grades 1, 7, and 11 students was supposed to end last April 30 but the DepEd decided to give "more time" to learners, Education Undersecretary Jesus Mateo said.

"We will continue to accept early registrants until the end of May to give you more time to register," he said.

Until the end of April, the DepEd recorded 4.3 million learners that registered early for the next school year. This is 93 percent of total early registrants recorded last year, the department said.

The Calabarzon region recorded the highest number of registered learners at 437,561, followed by Central Visayas (395,830) and Western Visayas (365,361), according to a May 6 report from the DepEd.

• Schools to use drop boxes, online platforms in early registration

Students in Grades 2 to 6, 8 to 10, and 12 are already considered pre-registered and do not need to participate in the activity.

Education Secretary Leonor Briones said the department was "very happy" with the outcome of the early registration.

"Amidst the current situation, this only shows how important education is to our stakeholders," she said.

Education Undersecretary Diosdado San Antonio earlier said the DepEd planned to open the next school year on August 23, 2021 but the agency later clarified that the date was only one of the options that would be presented to President Rodrigo Duterte, who will have the final say on the matter.

• August 23 school opening still an option; Duterte has final say - DepEd

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