PAGADIAN CITY, Zamboanga del Sur, Philippines – January 28 has been declared by Department of Education (DepEd) as the Early Registration Day (ERD) for School Year (SY) 2012-2013 in public elementary and secondary schools in all regions of Mindanao and other areas of the country.

This was announced here by DepEd Region-12 Director Walter O. Albos to all Western Mindanao teachers and field education officials in compliance with DepEd Order No. 4, Series of 2012, which his office received recently from Education Secretary Armin Luistro who said the ERD is focused on the theme “Makapag-aral ay Karapatan Mo, Magpalista Ngayong Enero.”

Albos quoted Luistro as saying that the ERD calls for the campaign, with the special participation of local and barangay (village) officials, for registration not only of regular elementary and high school students but also of out-of-school children (OSC) and out-of-school youth (OSY), including those with difficulties.

The DepEd chief, Albos said, explained that the ERD specifically seeks to:

Reach out to all five-year-old and six-year-old children to ensure their enrolment for SY 2012-2013 in Kindergarten and Grade 1;

Guarantee enrolment of the OSC and OSY from the disadvantage groups for the indigenous peoples (IPs) and street children with ages five to 18 in their preferred education delivery system, either formal through alternative delivery mode (ADM) or alternative learning system (ALS);

Establish census of the OSC and OSY with disabilities, ages five to 18 years old, to provide them with appropriate education interventions;

Enable the various levels (central, regional, division) of DepEd to prepare the Three-Year Catch-Up Plan in Basic Education from SY 2012-2013 to SY 2014-2015 in order to accommodate the registered learners;

Enable the education department – in collaboration with the local government units (LGUs), village officials, Parents-Teachers Associations (PTAs), civil society and business sector – to make necessary preparation and to address potential resource needs in time for the opening of classes in June, 2013;

Support the schools in their efforts to provide education interventions to prevent pupils and students from dropping out from school.

In effect, Albos directed all Western Mindanao heads of elementary and secondary schools to undertake a necessary advocacy campaign to encourage the most number of parents to come out with their children for the early ERD in the schools divisions of Zamboanga del Sur, Pagadian City, Zamboanga del Norte, Dipolog City, Zamboanga City, Zamboanga Sibugay, Dapitan City, and Isabela City in Basilan.

Albos also tasked secondary school principals and their staff to work with the village and Sangguniang Kabataan officials to locate elementary graduates who either have not enrolled in high school or dropped out of school in order to ensure their early registration so that appropriate program interventions could be planned for them.