Despite the surge of COVID-19 cases in the country and the new variants of Coronavirus, the Department of Education (DepEd) assured President Rodrigo Duterte that enrolment levels for the coming school year are "still high"

"Mr. President, insofar as the enrollment is concerned, as I said, we first concentrated on quantity. We recorded an 8.45 percent increase in enrollment. From 24.92 million learners to 27 million learners in 2019," Education Secretary Leonor Briones said during the taped Talk to The People aired on Saturday morning.

"Despite the pandemic, Mr. President, we managed an enrollment of 26.23 million students for this year, which is 97 percent of pre-pandemic and considering all the different varieties of viruses, which has plagued our system including education," she said.

"It’s quite significant that our enrollment levels are still high," she added.

Briones presented the achievements and programs of her department to Duterte.

Classes for the school year 2021-2022 will begin on Monday, September 13, 2021. Robina Asido/DMS