The Department of Education–Cordillera Administrative Region (DepEd-CAR) is grappling with a concerning drop in enrollment, compounded by massive resource and personnel deficits, according to the State of the Region’s Address (SORA)
Despite aiming to be a “Weaver of H.O.P.E and Transformation,” the region has seen its enrollment decline consistently since the 2021-2022 school year.
This downturn represents a loss of 33,809 students, or a 7.5% decrease, dropping to 414,177 learners by 2024–2025.
DepEd-CAR regional director Estela Carino, in her report acknowledged that this downward trend “may reflect challenges such as migration, demographic shifts, and access barriers in remote areas.”
While DepEd-CAR highlighted its success in inclusion — with 62.91% of the 401,178 enrolled learners for SY 2025-2026 identified as Indigenous Peoples (IP) learners — the region must urgently address significant physical and human resource shortages.
The most critical resource gaps include deficit of 3,469 classrooms needed, alongside more than 1,400 schools lacking basic facilities like libraries and clinics.
The report also noted that over 1,600 schools lack computers, hindering efforts for digital access.
Additional 871 teachers and over 1,100 school heads are also needed to properly staff schools and divisions .
Retention and post-graduation trends
Retention remains a major challenge, particularly at the secondary level. Although the overall dropout rate improved to 0.82% in SY 2024–2025, Key Stage 3 (Junior High) accounts for the largest share of dropouts, with 2,491 learners leaving school.
For high school graduates, the preference is overwhelmingly academic. A dominant 94% of Senior High School (SHS) graduates prefer to pursue higher education , leading the DepEd-CAR report to note that this highlights “limited immediate economic participation and underutilization of non-academic exit options”.
Calamity impact and policy focus
Recent Super Typhoons Nando and Uwan further impacted the region, causing damage to a total of 2,363 classrooms and incurring an estimated financial impact of over ₱76.43 million .
The data underscores the urgent need to realize the DepEd’s goal of “high quality of education” and build learning systems that are, as cited in the presentation, “adaptive, that are inclusive, and that are innovative.” Roderick Osis