By PIA-Bohol | 09:19 AM June 06, 2026
TAGBILARAN CITY—The Department of Education (DepEd) Division of Bohol sees a 0.9 percent reduction in enrolment for school year 2026-2027, and it has nothing to do with learners dropping out.
For reasons not related to how school authorities handle schools, enrolment this school year should be declining with some 7000 less, and that is because there are fewer kids getting to kindergarten than before.
“Maybe it has something to do with family planning,” DepEd Bohol schools division superintendent Dr. Fay Luarez shared over at Kapihan sa PIA.
DepEd Bohol Values Education Program Supervisor and Information Officer Lope Hubac shared the same observation.
“We have been going around schools supervising, and one thing became clear, we used to have full kindergarten classes. Now it is only about three or four kids,” Luarez pointed out.
Last school year 2025-2026, enrolment at DepEd Bohol reached 301,962 learners from public and private schools kindergarten to Grade 12 in senior high school.
But for DepEd, despite a low turn-out in enrolment, bot officials are happy to announce that of the few enrolled in the province’s kindergarten.
This year, the division only expects 294,962 learners participating school, authorities said.
And if the declining enrolment is becoming a concern, with class orientations starting Monday, June 8, a physical report from the division office says the schools have managed to get 188,494 of the 294,962 expected enrolees.
As of July 4 at 8:05 AM, there are 111,203 pupils enrolled in the public elementary schools, 44,329 in Junior High Schools and 15,804 in the public school’s Senior High School, for a sum of 171,336 enrolees, according to the school’s superintendent.
This is 62.56 percent of the total expected enrolment.
In the private schools, as of the beginning of the third day of enrolment, private schools also reported 4,711 enrolled in the elementary schools, 9,241 enrolled in the Junior High School and 3,206 in the senior High Schools.
That makes a total of 17,157 enrolees in the private institutions, or some 47.26 percent of the expected number.
To this, Luarez urged parents and students to be enrolled within the week, as those who enrol late as class schedules would immediately start on Monday.
Even with the potential decline, Division of Bohol officials have good news to take that with.
While there are fewer kids getting enrolled in kindergarten, what we are very thankful of is that, based on the academic performance last year, kids getting to the elementary schools are better trained.
“In their performance, based on the assessment that we gave them, we saw they got a better educational foundation,” the superintendent bared. (PIABohol)
