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DepEd: 3M students in need of assistance due to learning gaps

Three million students require assistance due to learning gaps, according to the Department of Education's (DepEd) assessment. The DepEd made the statement after the Philippine Statistics Authority found 5.58 million high school graduates “functionally illiterate" or having problems in comprehension and understanding. “Mayroon pong expected na dapat matutunan ng mga bata. [Kung] hindi po nila inabot yung expectation na ‘yon, may gap po sa pagkatuto… Marami pong problema, marami pong factors kung bakit nangyayari yan, kaya dapat po talagang pagtulungan ng teacher [at] ng magulang para maitawid yung mga bata, maabot nila yung kaalaman [at] mga skills na dapat matutunan nila,” DepEd Undersecretary Gina Gonong said in an interview with Super Radyo dzBB on Saturday. (There are expectations on what a child should learn. [If] they do not reach those expectations, there is a learning gap… There are a lot of problems and lots of factors as to why this happens, so teachers and parents should really work on helping the child obtain the knowledge and learn the necessary skills.) “Malayo-layo po, mahaba-haba pa yung kailangan namin lakbayin para po matulungan ang mga bata,” she added. (It's still a long way to go for us to help the children.) DepEd’s Academic Recovery and Learning (ARAL) Program aims to address learning gaps that lead to difficulties in learning and comprehension. The program was mandated by Republic Act 12028, which was signed by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in October 2024. The law covers the following: Those who have returned or are returning to school after a furlough; Those who are below the minimum proficiency levels required in reading, mathematics, and science; or Those who are failing in examinations and tests as assessed and evaluated by the teachers during the course of the school year. “Ngayong pasukan po ipapatupad natin yung [ARAL program]… Covered po ng ARAL program ang reading and math for Grades 1 to 10, at tsaka science po for Grades 3 to 10,” said Gonong. (We will be implementing [the ARAL program] this school year… The ARAL program covers reading and math for Grades 1 to 10 and science for Grades 3 to 10.) Under the ARAL program, children would undergo assessments to determine the need for tutorials and further study programs outside classrooms. Tutorials would be held for not more than one hour per day or not more than two hours per day for weekend programs and would be held by different teachers. “Puwede din pong [magturo] mga teacher applicants namin, mga licensed teachers ang mga yan. Puwede pong teachers from private schools, puwede pong mga pre-service teachers, yung mga may competence para magturo, mag-tutor sa ating mga bata,” said Gonong. (Our teacher applicants may teach as they are licensed teachers. Teachers from private schools can too, as well as pre-service teachers, whoever has the competence to teach and tutor our children.) Public schools will provide the program for free, and there are efforts to make it mandatory for students who need help. “Kailangan naming pagtrabahuhan 'yan sa field, kasi minsan kahit sabihin naming mandatory, may mga parents na hindi pinapayagan ang mga bata. Kailangan talagang mag-advocate, kausapin, mag-orient ng mga parents para maintindihan nila kung bakit kailangan talaga mag-undergo ng program ang kanilang mga anak,” Gonong said. (We still need to work on that in the field, because sometimes even if we say that it’s mandatory, there are parents who refuse to let their children participate. We really need to advocate, talk to, and orient the parents so they can understand why their children need to go through the program.) — Jiselle Anne Casucian/VBL, GMA Integrated News