During the House of Representatives’ Committee on Basic Education and Culture deliberation held on July 29, 2024, regarding House Resolution No. 1805 on suspending the regular academic program for 8 to 12 weeks to implement an effective learning recovery program, the Department of Education (DepEd) says it welcomes the proposed resolution which targets to improve the literacy and numeracy competencies of K to 12 learners.
“We [at DepEd] welcome the resolution, your Honor. We spoke about this with the Secretary and the ExeCom. The whole DepEd is open to working with you [Congress] and EDCOM on thinking about how to operationalize this resolution,” says DepEd Undersecretary Gina Ginoong.
House Resolution No. 1805, filed by the Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM 2) Commissioners Rep Roman Romulo and Rep Jose Francisco “Kiko” Benitez intends to suspend the regular school schedule for 8-12 weeks to allow the uninterrupted and focused implementation of the learning recovery program, after sufficient preparations by the DepEd.
“We all know that we have taken the 2018 and 2022 PISA, we took the SEAP PLM exam, the TIMSS exam. All the results show that we need interventions for reading comprehension and math age appropriate. Meaning that our learners are not faring well in any of these international assessment exams,” says Rep Romulo.
According to EDCOM 2 Executive Director Karol Mark Yee, the National Learning Recovery Program as designed may not be sufficient to meet the needs of the learners. “We have seen challenges as to the implementation of the components of the National Learning Recovery Program (NLRP). For example, in our visit to the learning camps, we found Grade 8 students still struggling with subtraction at the end of the camp. Today as they enter Grade 9, they will be studying quadratic equations and rational algebraic equations for 1st Quarter alone. How are they supposed to catch up on foundational skills, and even more so, in terms of grade-level competencies?” asked ED Yee.
EDCOM also noted that DepEd has not yet issued policies on the implementation of other components of the NLRP such as the National Mathematics Program and National Science and Technology Program.
EDCOM 2 Commissioner Rep Benitez emphasized the need to have a remediation design supported by data. “You cannot do the remediation design unless you have the data of where the students actually are. Does DepEd have the data? Because classes are opening now. If they stick to their old remediation design, it is not clear that it will be effective vis-a-vis the amount of time and resources both students and teachers will put into it, If the remediation design is not sufficiently nuanced to meet the children in where they are in terms of their competencies,” said Benitez.
During the hearing, DepEd committed to lead and coordinate with EDCOM 2 on setting realistic targets for the possible implementation of the proposed resolution, including ensuring proper assessments of learners needing the remediation. DepEd is expected to submit its position paper together with the budget breakdown and costing of the proposed intervention in two weeks.
“I am hoping that an additional 8-12 weeks of remediation that is targeted, at the right level, and meeting the students where they are and what they might need moving forward, may at least get us as close to the learning competencies of the grade levels that they are supposed to be in,” says EDCOM 2 Commissioner Rep Kiko Benitez.
