THE DEPARTMENT of Education said that over 1.8 million learners have pre-registered for School Year 2022-2023 as of April 12.

Education Secretary Leonor Briones urged parents of incoming Kindergarten, Grades 1, 7, and 11 students to enroll their children to avoid long lines during the normal registration period.

She said that registering for early enrollment will help the department prepare better for the upcoming school year.

Director Roger Masapol of DepEd’s Planning Services expects this year’s early enrollment rate to surpass the seven million milestone, up from 4.56 million students last year.

“We are hoping that until the end of this month, we will get closer to 7 million [students] or we will even surpass it,” Masapol said.

He added that DepEd expects 28.64 million students to enroll for the next school year.

The pre-registration of students will be until April 30.