(Eagle News) — Senate President Vicente Sotto III asked the Department of Education (DepEd) to formulate a flexible tuition payment scheme for private schoolsthat will make it easy for parents to enroll their children amid the economic difficulties encountered during the quarantine period.
He gave this statement amid reports that more parents are now opting to enroll their childrent in public schools. Enrollment data for public schools showed that it has exceeded 7 million so far.
“The DepEd should come out with more flexible payment terms so students can continue to enroll for this school year. Some families have experienced losses because of the lockdown. Private schools should be more accepting of proposed different payment schemes which are more affordable to parents who lost their jobs due to the COVID-19 lockdown,” Sotto said.
The senator, in statement, said private schools “allow the staggered payment of tuition fees under longer terms to give parents more time and opportunity to save money to pay off the cost of sending their children to school.”
He said this this will help parents whose sources of income were affected when businesses were ordered closed during the more than two months of enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) imposed due to serious contamination threats of the novel coronavirus.
“Makatutulong nang husto kung pahahabain ng mga paaralan ang panahon ng pagbabayad ng mga school fees upang magkaroon ng mas mahabang panahon ang mga magulang para magawan ng paraan ang kanilang ipambabayad para sa pag-aaral ng kanilang mga anak,” Sotto said.
Enrolment for basic and secondary education in public schools is now ongoing, and the DepEd said that enrollment in public schools nationwide have so far reached more than 7 million, which was more than they had expected.
The DepEd has announced that the Academic Year 2020-2021 will open on August 24 and close on April 2021. Public and private schools and learning institutes nationwide have been encouraged to use available distance learning, e-learning, and other alternative modes of delivery instead of face-to-face classes so as not to risk the health of students.
(Eagle News Service)