27.6 million students return to school today – DepEd

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June 16, 2025 | 12:01am

MANILA, Philippines — Classes for school year 2025-2026 officially open today, with 27.6 million students expected nationwide.

Education Secretary Sonny Angara is scheduled to accompany President Marcos in visiting selected schools, such as the Epifanio delos Santos Elementary School in Singalong, Manila. Other possible site visits include schools in Taguig City as well as Biñan and Sta. Rosa cities in Laguna.

Over 37,000 police personnel have been deployed, in line with Marcos’ directive to ensure the safety of students and school personnel.

There are 300,000 more enrollees this year compared to last year, the Department of Education (DepEd) said.

Meanwhile, the Teachers’ Dignity Coalition (TDC) reaffirmed the readiness and commitment of teachers for the opening of classes, and at the same time called on the government to fulfill its responsibilities in ensuring a better learning environment.

“Teachers are always ready and enthusiastic to perform their duties despite the recurring challenges we face every year. But it is also the government’s duty to make sure we are not left to carry this burden alone,” TDC national chairperson Benjo Basas said.

He noted that the opening of classes will still be marred by shortages in basic resources such as classrooms, armchairs, water and sanitation facilities and learning materials especially books aligned with the newly revised curriculum.

Basas also mentioned the lack of support for the implementation of the Strengthened Senior High School (SHS) curriculum, which will begin its pilot rollout in select schools.

“Reports from the field show that some schools participating in the SHS pilot are not adequately supported to deliver the new curriculum effectively,” he said.

He also said that while the Marcos administration institutionalized a P7,000 annual medical allowance through a health maintenance organization for teachers and non-teaching staff beginning this year, the DepEd was late in its implementation.

Police visibility

The Philippine National Police (PNP) has mobilized 37,740 police personnel nationwide today.

PNP chief Gen. Nicolas Torre III said the deployment covers 45,974 schools across the country, including 38,292 public and 7,682 private institutions, based on validated data as of June 4.

A total of 5,079 Police Assistance Desks have been set up near schools, manned by 10,759 personnel.

Meanwhile,10,687 officers have been assigned to mobile patrols, while 16,366 are conducting foot patrols to maintain visibility in high-density and critical areas.

Among regional units, Police Regional Office 7 (Central Visayas) has deployed the most personnel with 7,366 officers, followed by PRO 5 (Bicol) with 2,962, PRO 8 (Eastern Visayas) with 2,376, and the National Capital Region Police Office with 4,323 officers covering 1,204 schools.

In Mindanao, PRO Bangsamoro deployed 2,898 personnel across 657 schools.

The PNP also joined Brigada Eskwela 2025, assisting in classroom repairs and campus cleanups nationwide. It said the pre-opening phase remained generally peaceful and incident-free.

Classroom, bullying concerns

Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian raised concerns over persistent classroom shortages in urban areas, as well as the growing number of bullying incidents in schools, as the country begins a new academic year.

He said the government must expand funding for classroom construction under the upcoming national budget, but emphasized that improving the “absorptive capacity” of agencies is equally important.

“The construction of classrooms should be swift. Before, it has taken two, three years to build classrooms. The term of the sitting president has lapsed before the classrooms are built. This is one of the things we are fixing now,” he told dzBB yesterday.

Aside from infrastructure woes, the senator said he also intends to ramp up efforts to address bullying and mental health issues, especially among senior high school students.

“We will be doing caravans. Personally, I see rising incidences of bullying in schools. Mental health is one of the issues in senior high school,” he said.

Gatchalian said these upcoming initiatives will aim to better equip parents and communities in dealing with the twin concerns. — Mark Ernest Villeza, Neil Jayson Servallos