Senators want more for DepEd’s remedial class program Aral

MANILA, Philippines — Some senators deliberating on the draft 2027 national budget on Friday saw the need to restore funding for the Department of Education (DepEd) program that seeks to help underperforming students through remedial classes.

During a hearing of the Senate committee on finance, Senate President Win Gatchalan, and Sens. Bam Aquino, Joel Villanueva, and Erwin Tulfo separately raised their concern over the “zero allocation” for the Deped’s Academic Recovery and Accessible Learning (Aral) program.

‘Loose change’

Tulfo was the first to question the lack of a dedicated budget for Aral, noting that the DepEd earlier sought P15.32 billion for the program but received no allocation under the National Expenditure Program (Nep) prepared by Malacañang.

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The House-approved General Appropriations Bill (Gab) that was forwarded to the Senate allotted only P350 million for the program, which Tulfo described as a mere pittance.

“You requested P15.32 billion, but the Nep allocated zero. I don’t understand why. The Gab, meanwhile, showed some pity and allotted P350 million, just loose change,’’ he said.

Fewer ‘struggling readers’

Aral is a program established by law—Republic Act No. 12028—in October 2024 to ensure remedial instruction in reading, mathematics and science for students falling behind on these subjects.

Asked to expound on the program during the hearing, Education Undersecretary Carmela Oracion said Aral was considered a key strategy in improving learning outcomes.

Citing a benefit of the program, Oracion reported a decline in the number students classified as “struggling readers’’ from 6.7 million in first year of Aral’s implementation to 2.2 million by the end of the same school year.

Under the program, teachers holding remedial classes handle small groups of 10 to 15 learners, she added. Individual schools may decide the schedule of such sessions, whether before or after regular classes, during breaks, or on Saturdays.

Director Vivien Labastilla of the Department of Budget and Management explained that Aral had no separate line item in the proposed 2027 budget because its funding had been attributed to the allocation for textbooks and other instructional materials.

When Tulfo asked how tutors would be paid under this arrangement, Labastilla said their compensation could be charged to overtime pay.

Ironic

The DBM, Tulfo said, should assure the program of funding in future budget proposals.

Gatchalian said he would push for the restoration of Aral’s funding in the next year’s DepEd budget.

He found it ironic that the very programs that had been “delivering” or producing results were the ones getting zero allocations.

Villanueva also called the lack of allocation “unacceptable.”

“When I found out that it was zero, the first word that came out to my mind was ‘stupid.’ I mean, I really can’t comprehend why they did that,” Villanueva said.