DepEd OKs early enrollees

To ensure that all new entrants for kindergarten, grades 1, 7, and 11 learners in public and private elementary and secondary schools nationwide, the Department of Education will open its early registration desks from Feb. 1 to March 6.
Through DepEd Order 3, s. 2018, otherwise known as the “Basic Education Enrolment Policy,” Sec. Leonor Briones stated that early registration seeks to locate, identify, and register out-of-school children and youth in the community who may be characterized as: living with disability, living in off-grid/far-flung community; a barangay without a school, or a geographically isolated area; displaced due to natural disaster; living in an armed conflict area or area with high level of criminality/drug abuse; having chronic illness or nutritional problem/s; victim of child abuse or economic exploitation; stateless/undocumented; in conflict with the law; living on the streets; and no longer in school but interested in going back to school.
The early registration policy prescribed that registrants must satisfy the following eligibility rules:
Kindergarten must be five years old on or before Aug. 31 while those qualified to pre-register for grade 1 must be kindergarten completer or Philippine Educational Placement Test (PEPT) passer for kindergarten level. Kids six years old and above by Aug. 31, but not kindergarten completer who were assessed grade 1-ready as per Early Childhood Development checklist may also pre-register.
Those who can pre-register for grade 7 are grade 6 completer, PEPT passer for grade 6 or Alternative Learning System Accreditation and Equivalency (ALS A & E) elementary passer.
Those who can pre-register for grade 11 are grade 10 completer, PEPT passer for grade 10, or ALS A&E secondary passer.
For kindergarten and grade 1, a Philippine Statistics Authority or National Statistics Authority birth certificate must be submitted. In case of its absence, Local Civil Registrar birth certificate, baptismal, or barangay certificate can be submitted.
Learners must also accomplish the Basic Education Enrolment Form during early registration.
The DepEd’s early registration policy upholds the right of all school-aged learners to enroll and be equally provided with quality, accessible, relevant, and liberating basic education. – DepEd release