MANILA, Philippines – A big majority of those initially accepted into the senior high school program of the Ateneo de Manila High School are girls, the school announced on Tuesday, March 29.

Out of the 1,904 transfer applicants for Grade 11, 331 were initially accepted, 246 (74%) of them girls. At least 85 boys (26%) from outside Ateneo also made it to the program.

“This exceeds the number of slots originally set for transferees. However, these numbers will still be finalized pending their confirmation of intent to enroll and actual enrollment statistics,” the Ateneo de Manila High School – an exclusive school for boys – said in a statement posted on its website Tuesday.

The school first announced in 2015 that it will open its senior high school program to more than 300 new students – both boys and girls – from “public, parochial, and select private schools in the Philippines” come school year 2016-2017.

“The coed nature of the Senior High School is part of preparation for college,” Ateneo de Manila University president Fr Jose Ramon Villarin, SJ, said in his announcement in March 2015.

It’s been almost 43 years since the university itself accepted its first full batch of women in 1973 – the year coeducation began in Ateneo. 

On Tuesday, the school announced 101 out of the 331 accepted students were awarded scholarships and financial grants-in-aid. Upon confirmation of their slots, the new students may enroll from April 11 to 15.

“As new students in the Ateneo, they are expected to undergo the Family Conference in order to be on the same page as their would-be classmates from the Ateneo High School’s present Grade 10 batch in terms of understanding the Ateneo’s ways of proceeding,” Tuesday’s statement read.

The Ateneo Grade School and the Junior High School will remain exclusive for boys.

The K to 12 program, formally known as the Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2013, will be fully implemented nationwide this June. (READ: INFOGRAPHIC: 10 things about K to 12)

The first batch of students under the K to 12 program will enter senior high school’s Grade 11 in 2016, and Grade 12 in 2017. (READ: What senior high school tracks fit your locality?) – Rappler.com