The Department of Education said that 4.7 million students enrolled for School Year 2021-2022.

DepEd Undersecretary Nepomuceno Malaluan said that the number of enrollees rose to 4,777,942.

“Unlike last year, the early registration happened before Covid so we had to reconfirm in June. This year, the early registration was already under Covid situation so no need for those who registered early to enroll,” Malaluan said.

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

DepEd’s Learner Information System Quick Counts logged 220,615 students enrolled since Monday, August 16 and 4,557,327 during the early registration as of June 2.

CALABARZON (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon) has the highest number of enrollees — 533,722, followed by Central Visayas with 411,772, and Western Visayas, 399,130.

DepEd Undersecretary Annalyn Sevilla reminded parents and guardians to follow its remote enrollment process to ensure everyone’s safety.

“As we start our enrollment for School Year 2021-2022, I remind all our parents to keep their safety in mind and use the various means available to ensure that this enrollment goes smoothly,” Sevilla said.

Last year, there were some 26.6 million students enrolled in public schools.