Schools in Western Visayas welcomed 1,409,134 learners from basic elementary education to senior high school as 2024-2025 academic year officially started on Monday.

Hernani Escullar Jr., information officer of the Department of Education (DepEd) in Western Visayas, said the number was only 70 percent of the total enrollment recorded during the previous school year at 2,012,930.

The enrollees comprised 705,602 for elementary, 468,086 for junior high school and 235,446 for senior high school.

“The data was as of July 26, but the encoding is still ongoing. The number already covers enrollment from public, private, state universities and colleges, and local universities and colleges,” Escullar said in an interview.

He said they have no idea why there was a drop in enrollment, but they are still encouraging parents to enlist their children since public schools continue to accept enrollees.

The transfer of residence is being considered one of the possible reasons, he said.

“Our policy is that no child will be left behind, so anyone who is supposed to be enrolled in basic education should be in school. As we speak, encoding continues,” he said, adding that probably they will see the actual number in a month or two.

Meanwhile, Escullar said the opening of classes went smoothly.

Brig. Gen. Jack Wanky, regional director of the Police Regional Office 6 (PRO6), said over 2,000 officers have been deployed to ensure the safety of learners.

“With this opening, we expect an influx of students, especially new students accompanied by their parents. We have to sustain our very effective Balik Eskwela security program,” he said.

Wanky called on students to be vigilant and never hesitate to approach assistance desks for any help. (PNA)