by: Gideon C. Corgue
PAGADIAN CITY, Jan. 25 (PIA) – The Department of Education (DepEd), Pagadian City division on Tuesday conducted an advocacy campaign on the ‘Early Registration Day’ (ERD) for SY 2012-2013.
Education program supervisor Ma. Diosa Peralta, co-chair of the communication’s team in a regular weekly media forum hosted by the Philippine Information Agency (PIA) IX at New Roxan Hotel said the campaign aims to encourage most number of parents to register their children in the ‘ERD’ on January 28, 2012.
Peralta said the DepEd secretary Armin Luistro on January 11 has issued DepEd order No. 4, series of 2012 declaring January 28, 2012 as the ‘Early Registration Day’ for school year 2012-2013 in all public elementary and secondary schools with the theme “Makapag-aral ay Karapatan Mo, Magpalista Ngayong Enero” to achieve the millennium development goals (MDGs) and the objectives of ‘Education for All’ (EFA).
Peralta said the one (1)-day early registration for incoming kindergarten, Grade 1 and first year high school in public schools will be conducted simultaneously in all regions nationwide.
Peralta said that the team led by the city schools division superintendent Victorina Perez started the advocacy campaign by tapping the services of the Zamboanga del Sur-Pagadian City Press Club, Inc. (ZPPI) for widest information dissemination on the program and to promote greater parent involvement for the ERD.
“This forum is very timely because we are in the phase of extensively campaigning for the scheduled ERD. With your incessant and active support, we believe that we can achieve our target,” Peralta said adding that the media is the powerful tool to help disseminate the programs of the agency.
In the campaign, Peralta said we will be asking also the assistance of the local and barangay officials for the early registration of the out-of-school children (OSC), and the out-of-school-youth (OSY), including the children and the youth with difficulties, and the regular pupils and students.
Education program supervisor Ruben Luzon, one of the panelists announced some of ERD’s objectives: the department seeks to reach out to all five (5) year-old and six (6) year-old children to endure their enrollment for SY 2012-2013 in Kindergarten and Grade 1, respectively; it guarantees the enrollment of the OSC and OSY from the disadavantaged groups for the indigenous people’s (IPs) and street children ages 5-18 years old to their preferred education delivery system, either formal through aleternative delivery mode (ADM) or alternative learning system (ALS).
The ERD, Luzon said hopes to establish census of the OSC and OSY with disabilities, ages 5-18 years old to provide them with appropriate education interventions.
The ERD will further enable the central, regional, and division of the department to prepare the ‘3-year Catch Up Plan in Basic Education ’ from SY 2012-2013 to SY 2014-2015 in order to accommodate the registered learners.
Luzon said the ERD also will support the schools in their efforts by providing education interventions to prevent pupils and students from dropping out from school
Meanwhile, public school district supervisor Cynthia Rose Cartojano said the agency in collaboration with DSWD and DOH issued policies and guidelines for the implementation of the Universal Kindergarten Education (UKE). “One of the guidelines is the enrollment requirements of the children”, she added.
Cartojano said all children who are born in October 21, 2007 or earlier shall be eligible for enrollment in Kindergarten classes.
During he registration, Cartojano said the parents will bring certificate of live birth issued by the Local Registry Office/Baptismal Certificate as the documentary basis. “If the document is not available during the registration, the same shall be submitted either on June or within the school year. The document is required for the children who have never been to school,” Cartojano added. (JPA/GCC/PIA9-Pagadian)
