MORE than 360,000 learners in Western Visayas have pre-registered for School Year 2022-2023, the Department of Education said Tuesday.

DepEd Western Visayas information officer Hernani Escullar Jr. said 360,571 learners reflected in their database as of May 1.

Of these, 68,473 were Kindergarten students, 104,400 were Grade 1, 93,026 were Grade 7, and 94,672 were Grade 11.

“This will serve as basis for planning and preparations in terms of classrooms, student-teacher ratio, number of modules and learning materials and other resources for the next school year,” Escullar said.

“As of now we have no information if there is still an ongoing encoding. But as per advice from our Planning and Research Division, schools should continue to accept the late registration forms because it could be that there was a delay or parents found it difficult to travel due to possible restrictions,” he added.

The early registration of students in public primary and secondary schools from March 25 to April 30, 2022 will give the Education department time to better prepare for possible issues and concerns that may arise.

Education Secretary Leonor Briones said those in Grades 2-6, 8-10, and 12 are considered pre-registered and need not participate in early registration.