| TODAY marks the start of the academic year for more than 24 million students on all educational levels in the country. With more than 22 million students in basic education and around 2 million students in higher education, school campuses will be teeming today with re-energized learners taking on the challenges of learning and applying new concepts.To prepare for the resumption of the school year, the Department of Education (DepEd) and the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) have teamed up with other government agencies and private sector groups to ensure the safety and security of all students and the availability of all resources and facilities required for learning.The DepEd mobilized its personnel and community members in the annual Balik Eskwela campaign. More than 10,000 new classrooms have been constructed. The DepEd has also finished the hiring of 10,000 new teachers and around 97 percent of all public schools are already on one-shift classroom use. DepEd has also allocated a P3-billion subsidy for students who will not be accommodated in public schools. They will enroll in private schools using the subsidy which ranges from P5,000 to P10,000 for every student. The subsidy will benefit 48 percent of the entire enrollment in public and private schools.The CHED has also worked with the more than 1,500 higher education institutions, both public and private, to ascertain a smooth start for the school year.May all the learners who troop back to the schools today be actively engaged in the learning process so that they can realize their full potentials, especially as they are assured of the support of public agencies and their schools. |
