With classes in public schools slated to open on June 1, education officials met to discuss a possible course of action for a smooth opening of classes.

On Thursday, Education Secretary Jesli Lapuz met with Department of Education (DepEd) officials from the National Capital Region (NCR) to discuss the department's Oplan Balik Eskwela program.

Oplan Balik Eskwela, which started in 2007, is a unified effort of various government agencies that have commitments to help the education sector.

The program would hopefully "ensure a smooth and ordely opening of classes" in more than 44,600 public schools in the country.

This year, DepEd is expecting more than 21 million elementary and secondary students nationwide.

Barriers

The DepEd also discussed important issues like increasing students' participation rates.

The elementary participation rate has dropped from 84.4% in 2006 to 83.2% in 2007. The secondary rates, however, barely increased from 58.5% to 58.6% in the same year.

The department is thus removing "all barriers to enrollment" such as school uniforms and school fees.

"School children may choose not to wear school uniforms. School heads are also prohibited from forcibly collecting school fees from enrollees at any time during the school year," the DepEd said.