The Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM 2) is calling on the Department of Education (DepEd) to expand its intervention programs to include all struggling readers and to consider teaching at the right level this coming school year, following its site visits on May 29, 2025 to Gotamco Elementary School and Jose Rizal Elementary School in Pasay City.
The visits were part of EDCOM 2’s efforts to monitor the implementation of learning recovery programs, assess the rollout of the 2025 DepEd Summer Programs, and gather direct insights from learners, teachers, and local education officials.
The Commission commended DepEd’s focused intervention programs this year, which targeted Key Stage 1 students (Grades 1 to 3) through its Bawat Bata Makababasa Program in Region 9, and its Literacy Remediation Program (LRP) nationwide for Grade 3 students. “These programs directly align with our call for targeted learning recovery and fixing the foundations,” said Executive Director Karol Mark Yee. “By using the CRLA to target learners, providing sufficient time for drills, and ensuring attentive support from teachers by having smaller groups, DepEd has addressed many concerns raised in the past two years of running the National Learning Camps.”
Feedback from parents and students who have participated in programs have also been positive. Many shared that aside from improved reading abilities, the summer classes helped children build social skills and self-confidence. “Mas naging confident po siya, at medyo nabawasan ang hiya,” said one parent about her child who joined the program after being flagged for reading remediation.
Include “transitioning readers” in literacy remediation programs
The Commission however urged the DepEd to expand the coverage of its intervention program. Based on the data from the Comprehensive Rapid Literacy Assessment (CRLA), about 2,851,215 students or 52.26% of CRLA-assessed in Grades 1 to 3 were not yet grade-level ready. However, the current interventions of the Department focused mainly on students who were “Low Emerging Readers”.
Percentage breakdown of DepEd’s Comprehensive Literacy Assessment (CRLA) data by Reading Profiles. The CRLA Dashboard is accessible at https://lookerstudio.google.com/u/0/reporting/1a2b7706-a54d-4646-82b7-93da6a9eb7d3/page/p_3bjcc64yld
“Based on the FGD’s kanina, maganda na yung programs. They are working, but they can also be improved. Sabi ng teachers natin, they need more time to focus on just reading, reading, reading”, EDCOM 2 Co-Chairperson Rep. Roman Romulo said.
Particularly, the Commission recommended that the agency also consider supporting “transitioning readers” in its intervention programs. These are learners who can read with 51–75% fluency for their grade level at the start of the school year, can answer at least 50% of comprehension questions, and have the potential to become grade-level ready within the year if given targeted support. According to the CRLA data, 1,698,759 learners nationwide fall into this category.
“Mandatory” policy, but some learners still do not attend
Principals and teachers also shared their challenge in ensuring that learners who need the intervention actually attend. “Kagaya po ngayong summer, kung sino po ‘yong mga kailangan namin maturuan, sila po ang hirap kaming makipag-coordinate,” said Genalin Ong, Principal of Padre Zamora Elementary School.
DepEd Undersecretary Gina Gonong acknowledged these noting that despite the summer reading program being mandatory, learner participation remains a major issue. This is especially true for struggling readers who require consistent and prolonged engagement to improve.
Consider teaching at the right level, and engaging LGUs
Given the challenge in reaching struggling learners, EDCOM 2 reiterated its recommendation for DepEd to study if it was possible to group learners by ability, rather than placing all learners with different reading levels in one class, making it difficult for teachers to adjust. Last August 2024, the EDCOM filed a Resolution urging DepEd to focus the first eight weeks of classes on targeted literacy remediation.
Pasay teachers also agreed and said that this would allow for more focused, level-appropriate instruction. “Baka po maganda ito, kasi ngayon, kahit konti lang ang students sa isang klase, iba-iba pa rin sila ng level; ‘yung iba nahuhuli, ‘yung iba naman naboboring. Pero kung pare-pareho sila ng level, mas nakakasabay,” said one teacher in the discussion
Romulo also emphasized the need for support from local government units (LGUs): “Kailangan rin ng suporta ng local communities lalo na ng LGU. We need to engage the LGUs more”.
“Dapat nga talaga may involvement ang LGU. DILG should help out. Bawasan na natin ang burden ng teachers and schools. Kung gusto talaga nating maabot ang mga batang hirap sa pagbasa, kailangan may coordination from barangay to city level. Literacy should be everyone’s agenda, not just DepEd’s,” he reiterated.
“Since literacy is a collective process, baka pwedeng yung LGU makipagtandem sa barangay. Meron tayong literacy awards per city—baka pwede rin per barangay—para yung mga batang hindi pumupunta, hindi school ang mamroblema, kundi barangay na ang may responsibility na magdala sa kanila sa school,” Principal Ong suggested.
During the visit, EDCOM 2 also learned that the Pasay City LGU has been funding its own reading intervention program for around 20 years already. The Commission highlighted this as a model of sustained local support and reiterated the need for Schools Division Superintendents to actively collaborate with their respective LGUs. Leveraging the Special Education Fund (SEF), they said, can help ensure schools have the resources and reach to provide consistent, targeted interventions for the most at-risk learners.
