Abstract
The primary years of learning are fundamental, thus Republic Act 10157 made Kindergarten the compulsory and mandatory entry stage to basic education. However, there are age five children in Region I who are not in school as shown by the net enrolment rate of 57.10% and 67.88% for SY 2019-2020 and SY 2021-2022, respectively. This descriptive- correlational study identified the child-mapping practices of schools and determined the level of engagement of stakeholders in the child-mapping activities to increase participation rate in Kindergarten. The respondents of the study are 1,111 public school heads. Results were analyzed through frequency, percentage, rank, average weighted mean, and Pearson correlation. Findings revealed that 88.90% of the children mapped have enrolled. Schools mostly practiced coordination with the Child Development Center, conduct of house-to-house survey, and obtaining data from the records of the barangay/health council where most children were encouraged to enroll. The factors why children mapped did not enroll are due to cut-off age requirement, readiness of the child, and distance from home to school. There is high engagement of schools, community, and schools division offices in the activities. There is a significant correlation between the number of children enrolled and the degree of engagement of stakeholders. From the findings of the study, it is recommended to strengthen linkages with agencies that have record of information of children eligible for enrolment, tap possible stakeholders for support, further review the kindergarten policy, adopt the output of the study, and institutionalize the conduct of child-mapping in coordination with stakeholders.
