CITY OF SAN JOSE DEL MONTE, Bulacan— Department of Education (DepEd) Secretary Sonny Angara has reiterated the top priority of the agency to revitalize the educational system of the country.
He said that the Academic Recovery and Accessible Learning Program or ARAL as mandated by Republic Act 12028, is now being rolled out nationwide to improve the reading comprehension and as well as Math skills of the students.
In an informal dialogue with the public school teachers held in Minuyan Elementary School in this city, DepEd-San Jose Del Monte School Division Superintendent Dr. Leonardo C. Canlas reported to the secretary that out of 14,550 learners, 8,575 of them have already exited the program.
It means that those students are already capable of reading and understanding what they read. The program was also complemented by the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s (DSWD) ‘Tara Basa!’ Tutoring Program.
There’s also an initial P9.6 billion for the National Classroom Construction Program that will build the first 4,000 new classrooms across the country. Of this amount, P4.1 billion is set to be released to the provincial governments to construct around 1,200 classrooms.
DepED will also procure about 2,800 prefabricated classrooms worth more than P5 billion. These are just part of the planned 24,000 to 26,000 classrooms to be constructed in 2026.
As President Marcos has already promoted more than 5,600 teachers, the 2026 General Appropriation Act (GAA) will allow the promotion of 100,000 teachers more and open 30,000 new 30,000 teaching professions.
Secretary Angara said that to make sure the sustainability of the momentum in catching-up programs in various aspects of education, the administration of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. is now spending P1.34 trillion for the education sector under the 2026 General Appropriation Act (GAA) or enacted as Republic Act 12314.
The new record-high education budget is equivalent to 4% of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP). (UnliNews Online)
PHOTO CAPTION:
DEPARTMENT of Education (DepEd) Secretary Sonny Angara meets the faculty members of the Minuyan Elementary School in San Jose Del Monte City, Bulacan to hear their concerns, where he reiterated the agency’s prioritization in the national implementation of the Academic Recovery and Accessible Learning Program or ARAL, massive classroom building, and promoting and hiring more teachers. (Photo by Shane F. Velasco)
