Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson is appealing to parents to enroll their children amid the drop in school enrollment in Negros Occidental.
“Education is still the best investment that parents can give to their children,” Lacson said on Monday, September 4.
The Negros Occidental Schools Division currently has 304,877 enrollees or 90 percent of its target, its spokesperson Ian Arnold Arnaez said Monday.
Last year there were 337,847 students, 312,734 of whom were in public schools and 25,113 in private schools, he said.
Lacson said he wants to know why there has been a drop in enrollment. Parents who have not sent their children back to school should be interviewed to determine their reasons, he said.
“The drop in enrollment is not good…I hope this can be corrected soon,” Lacson said.
The governor also noted that many small private schools have closed.
Vice President Sara Duterte, concurrent secretary of education, will be at the Panaad Sports Stadium in Bacolod City for teachers’ day on Friday, September 8, the governor said.
Lacson said he does not believe he needs to raise the matter of lack of classrooms in Negros Occidental to the vice president since the various school divisions have already submitted their reports to the DepEd.
The Negros Occidental Schools Division lacks 1,800 classrooms, Arnaez said earlier.
“We will just be thankful if more school buildings are built here,” Lacson said.*