Education remains to be one of the most intractable challenges in the Philippines. Despite many efforts to make education a top priority, our education system continues to face a crisis that hinders a generation of students from receiving an inclusive and quality education. In recent years, the Department of Education (DepEd) has implemented a lot of educational programs, learning mechanisms, and teaching approaches that all aim to achieve a specific goal, to provide learners with quality basic education. It is no doubt that these implementations have delivered improvement in our education system, however, there isn’t much consistency with their way of management. As new initiatives are carried out, it raises the question, will these contribute to our country’s education transformation?
To further address the learning gaps in education, the Academic Recovery and Accessible Learning (ARAL) Act was signed into law by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on October 18, 2024, at MalacaΓ±ang Palace. [1] The ARAL Law is designed to ensure that learners in the private and public education system will be able to catch up in their learning process through structured tutorial lessons. It primarily targets students who are struggling in their lessons, those who have returned to school after a hiatus year due to the pandemic, as well as those who find it difficult to pass the examinations. However, the heavy workloads of teachers is one of the factors that must be considered in this law because firstly, they would have to undergo multiple training sessions. Secondly, the teachers will experience a hard time managing their tasks which can lead to stress or burnout.
Under this newly signed law, the involvement of teachers, para-teachers, and pre-service teachers are highly crucial as they will serve as the learning tutors in this program. The teachers who will serve as tutors will be under the care of the Magna Carte, para-teachers will be given compensation from the DepEd budget, and pre-service teachers can use this as an advantage for applying as teachers in DepEd. [2] A lot of teachers are overworked to the point of losing their voice which is why the extra hours can really be challenging for them. These learning facilitators will play a huge role in this program so it’s necessary to pay attention to them. Even better, the government should consider an increase in the salary of these teachers as they will have to work extra hard to fulfill their responsibilities.
The ARAL program is expected to be in effect early next year as discussed by Pasig City Lone District Rep. Roman Romulo in an interview on October 21, 2024. [3] Ever since the results showed that our country performed poorly in multiple international and national assessments, Rep. Romulo stated that this law should be carried out immediately so students will not be left behind. He also highlighted the need for implementation of this program since this could possibly make positive changes in the education system. Consequently, if the whole preparation is rushed, it might not turn out to be effective which is why they should prepare thoroughly for the implementation to work out.
Knowing how the pandemic has caused profound changes in the education sector, this law might actually be a significant step towards addressing the learning losses and uplifting the quality of education in our country. However, the government should also prioritize other concerns such as resource shortages and insufficient funding to make this law effective.
It is a must to put our education system first because this has long been a problem in our country. Without proper education, the Philippines will continue to be ranked at the bottom. The success of this program lies in the hands of the teachers, parents, national government agencies, and the private sector. Each participation of these people can help with guiding and empowering the young learners under this program so everyone must work together to help the youth reach their ambitions in life and for our education sector to finally accelerate.
REFERENCES:
[1] Cabato, L. (2024, October 18). Aral program law signed. INQUIRER.net.
https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/199.../aral-program-law-signed
[2] Geducos, A. C. (2024, October 18). Marcos signs ARAL Law to address learning gaps. Manila Bulletin.
https://mb.com.ph/.../17/president-marcos-signs-aral-law...
[3] Cervantes, F. M. (2024, October 21). ARAL program implementation likely in early 2025 – House leader. Philippine News Agency.
https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1236041
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