MANILA — Millions of public school students can start registering for the next school year on Monday, August 16, the Department of Education has said.

Enrollment for the upcoming school year will be done remotely in areas under enhanced community quarantine and modified enhanced community quarantine, the DepEd said in Order No. 32, which sets guidelines for the enrollment period.

Under remote enrollment, parents will be contacted by the school but they can also reach out to teachers, the department said.

Parents and guardians may physically submit the Modified Learner Enrollment and Survey Forms (MLESF) in schools in areas under general community quarantine and modified general community quarantine, the DepEd said.

It added that schools may also implement drop box enrollment, under which parents would submit accomplished MLESF in drop boxes or booths "in front of the school gate, in front of the barangay halls and other strategic locations."

The agency said it also preferred teachers and non-teaching personnel who have been vaccinated against COVID-19 to manage enrollment.

Parents of incoming kindergarten and Grades 7 and 11 students — grade levels that underwent early registration earlier this year — must "re-affirm their intent to enroll their children to a school of their choice via digital and/or physical enrollment platforms established by schools."

Learners planning to transfer from one school to another, meanwhile, must contact the receiving school through its published enrollment contact details.

"[The] previous adviser is no longer required to facilitate submission of MLESF of learner that is about to transfer to another school," the DepEd said.

Balik-Aral learners, or those who will resume their studies after dropping out, are instructed to directly contact their preferred schools for enrollment.

The education department also advised those enrolling under the Alternative Learning System (ALS) to "communicate their intent to enroll via digital and/or physical enrollment platforms established by schools and barangays with community learning centers."

The enrollment period will end on September 13, also the first day of classes, the DepEd said.

For the upcoming academic year, schools will be implementing distance learning again as in-person classes remain indefinitely banned due to the continued threat of COVID-19.

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Private schools have been allowed to start classes as early as June.

Last year, more than 24 million students enrolled in basic education when classes began on October 5, down by 3 million compared to the total number of enrollees from the previous year.

By January, the number of enrollees for School Year (SY) 2020 to 2021 went up to over 26.6 million or 96 percent from the previous SY, according to the DepEd, which attributed the increase to the ALS.

"[The] big reduction is on ALS but enrollment is still increasing because everyday is an enrollment day for ALS learners," the DepEd said.

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