DepEd-Davao looking at possible shifting class schedules as enrollment expected to rise

DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 24 April) — The Department of Education in Davao Region (DepEd-Davao) is considering the possibility of implementing shifting class schedules for School Year 2025–2026 if the student population becomes too large for existing classrooms to accommodate.

A learner looks for a space in a crowded classroom in Marilog District, Davao City. MindaNews file photo by RUBY THURSDAY MORE

“We are actually expecting an enrollment of more or less 1.3 million. A little over last year,” said DepEd-Davao spokesperson Jenielito Atillo.

He added that it is always a possibility that there will be shortage of classrooms, and shifting schedules might be the “penultimate” aid for schools to accommodate learners.

“If ever we’ll be having a ballooning population, we have other remedies like shifting [of class schedules], but we’ll only do that if we really have no other choice. If we can still find another way, we will not go for shifting. That’s the last resort,” he added.

Atillo said that the DepEd continues to assess classroom conditions and would not allow students to use facilities that are deemed unsafe.

“We do assessment of the classrooms. If we find out they’re not safe anymore, then we won’t let the children go there,” he said.

Atillo said they are expecting 739,755 students to be enrolled in the elementary, while 399,769 will be in junior high school.

He said that the remaining students will come from senior high school, though final enrollment numbers for that level are still being finalized.

He attributed the expected increase in enrollment to the region’s growing population.

For the previous academic year, 2024–2025, DepEd-Davao recorded 1,345,342 enrollees across all levels: 754,719 in elementary, 388,478 in junior high, and 202,145 in senior high.

In School Year 2023–2024, the region had 40,663 teaching personnel and 3,898 non-teaching and teaching-related staff.

Atillo added that classes for the upcoming school year will begin on June 6 and end on March 31, 2026.

Meanwhile, when asked of some parents’ concerns about grading systems and student promotion which may arise during enrollment or moving up from primary school to secondary school, Atillo emphasized that all schools were mandated to follow the guidelines set under DepEd Order No. 8, Series of 2015, which lays out the national policy for grading and recognition.

The order sets the grading system for K to 12 students by combining scores from written work, performance tasks, and quarterly assessments, then transmuting them into a final grade.

A student must earn a final grade of at least 75 in all subjects to be promoted, and those with lower grades may undergo remedial classes.

With this, Atillo added that schools must be able to justify recognitions and ensure that all grade-related decisions are supported by complete and accurate records.

“If they have reached the level, then why don’t we give it to them?” he said.

He added in jest that while recognition titles like “Most Courteous” or “Most Behaved” often pop up in year-end ceremonies, schools must ensure that such labels are grounded in “meaningful criteria” and, as much as possible, are “discouraged.” (Ian Carl Espinosa / MindaNews)