THE DEPARTMENT of Education said that at least 14.7 million students have registered for School Year 2021-2022.

As of Thursday, September 2, 2021, 14,787,763 students have signed up for the incoming school year. Of this number, a total of 9,640,112 were enrolled in public schools and 578,219 were listed in private learning institutions.

Enrollees in state and local universities reached 12,105 while 130,419 students have registered under the Alternative Learning System program.

There were 4,557,327 Kindergarten, Grades 1, 7 and 11 learners who participated in the early registration held from March to May.

The Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon) region still has the most number of enrollees — 2,337,632 — followed by Metro Manila, 1,463,615 and Central Luzon, 1,378,241.

The Cordillera Administrative Region, on the other hand, recorded the lowest number of enrollees at 311,436.

Education Secretary Leonor Briones earlier said that there may be a lag in the reporting of enrollment data because some schools first collate the enrollment forms, particularly those in drop boxes before reporting.

She added that her agency hoped to match last year’s figure of 26 million students.

The enrollment period in public schools started on August 16 and will end on September 13.