Raynold Mechol, Chief of Division of Research & Evaluation in an interview yesterday said that preliminary statistic shows that the number of students decreased this school year with 1,826 total enrollees compared to last year’s 1, 954 enrollees.
Mechol said the statistic is only for elementary school and the number is not official yet for they are still waiting for the numbers of enrollees from the two private elementary schools, Seventh Day Adventist and the Maris Stella School.Mechol said although the number of students attending school declined, the number of first grade students increased by 15 percent.He said a total of 270 first grade students enrolled this year compared to last year’s statistics which is only 234.Mechol said the increase in the number of first grade students attending school is also a good indication that there will be also an increase in the number of students enrolling for high school in the next eight years.There are a total of 18 public elementary schools in Palau and two private elementary schools while there are six high schools. Five of them are private and one public, the Palau High School.The number of students attending school has been declining for the past five years now and that is due to a decline in the number of children born each year.For the past five years, fewer than 3,000 students enrolled for elementary and high school.
