The Department of Education has supported House Resolution 1805, urging the agency to suspend the regular academic program for eight to 12 weeks to implement an effective learning recovery program that ensures learners attain functional literacy and numeracy.
In Wednesday's hearing conducted by the House Committee on Basic Education and Culture chaired by Pasig City Rep. Roman Romulo, DepEd Undersecretary for Curriculum and Teaching Gina Gonong said upon consultation with internal stakeholders, the DepEd submitted a proposal to the committee following the ABC Plus Model of Literacy and Numeracy Program for the eight-week learning recovery program.
She said the DepEd has prepared a timeline of activities to implement the eight-week learning recovery program.
"The timeline is part of the position paper we submitted to the committee. So, in 2024, we'll continue consulting with stakeholders. We've promised teacher groups that we'll return to them when we do the program's specific designs (and) training. We are also currently doing an inventory and mapping of learning resources on top of the ABC Plus learning resources," Gonong said.
The following will be the DepEd's tasks until December next year in line with the learning recovery program implementation, according to Gonong : 1) February, download funds to regional offices and schools division offices to augment their funds for the procurement of printing and delivery of ABC Plus resource packages; 2) March and April, reproduction of the learning resources; 3) April, training of trainors; 4) May, distribution of learning resources to schools by regions and divisions; 5) Third or last week of May, training of teachers at the local level by regional and division trainers; 6) June 16, start of classes. The first two weeks will be devoted to the pre-assessment and grouping of learners based on assessment, followed by formative assessments; 7) End of the schoolyear, two or three weeks before the examination, the teachers will do post-assessments of students.
Meanwhile, Gonong said they have also drawn up a wish list for implementing the eight-week learning recovery program, including its budget.
"We are currently doing focus group discussions in schools so that we can get the sentiments and inputs of the field and refine the policy. When we roll it out, it will be the policy the field has vetted," she said.
Gonong, in her answer to the question of ACT Teachers Party-list Rep. France Castro, said DepEd will test all Grades 1 to 3 students using the Comprehensive Reading Literacy Assessment (CRLA) Tool and the Rapid Assessment Tool for Numeracy.
Roman asked if the DepEd is admitting there is a problem with learners' reading comprehension and basic mathematics. "Is that something the DepEd can admit? What is our basis for saying that?" he said.
Gonong said their basis currently are the results of the CRLA for reading and the RMA for math. “Mayroon po tayong end of school year assessment na nangyari, Meron din po tayong beginning of school year assessment,” she said.
Gonong said that aside from the eight-week learning recovery program, they are working on another intervention program called "Nasa Pagbasa at Pag Kwenta ang Pag-Asa."
"We all agree the eight-week program needs to be continued. I mean, some students in the eight-week program would need further support. So, that means some students may need support all year round after the eight-week program. We will do that with "Nasa Pagbasa at Pagkwenta ang Pag-Asa," she said.
In HR 1805, Romulo and co-author former Negros Occidental Rep. Francisco "Kiko" Benitez, now Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) director general, cited a World Bank study showed that 9 out of 10 Filipino children aged ten are unable to read and understand a simple text appropriate for their age while the learning gap is estimated at 5.5 years.
The authors also stated that the current National Learning Recovery Program and Catch-Up Fridays continuously fail to achieve their objectives in reaching those learners requiring interventions, as participation is neither mandatory nor graded, and Catch-Up Fridays needs a structured and organized instructional and learning plan.
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