By JEN BAYLON

The Department of Education in Negros Occidental (DepEd-NegOcc) observed a decline in the number of enrollees in public schools for School Year (SY) 2024-2025.

Ian Arnold Arnaiz, DepEd-NegOcc spokesperson, said there was a 50 percent decline in the number of enrollees this year, compared to 325,000 students for SY 2023-2024.

Initial data from DepEd-NegOcc showed a total of 159,347 students have been enrolled in public schools in the province.

Of the number, 88,724 elementary and 70,623 high school students have been enrolled.

DepEd said the low turnout for this school year is due to the delay in encoding and updating enrollees’ data.

Arnaiz observes that there are often many late enrollees every school year, as DepEd is still accepting enrollment before the first quarter exam.

He added that teachers are ready for the new Matatag Curriculum, in conjunction with the opening of classes in public schools on Monday, July 29./JB, WDJ