The Department of Education (DepEd) on Saturday launched the Academic Recovery and Accessible Learning (ARAL) Program, an initiative aimed at addressing the country’s learning crisis and strengthening the foundational skills of Filipino students.

The program was simultaneously launched nationwide, with DepEd Executive Committee members leading activities in different regions.

Mandated under Republic Act No. 12028, signed by President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. in 2024, the ARAL Program will provide Kindergarten to Grade 10 learners with tutorial support in reading, mathematics, and science to help them meet grade-level competencies.

For school year 2025–2026, the program will prioritize reading, offering immediate support to struggling learners, particularly those identified as low and high emerging readers, as well as frustrated readers.

As of September 8, DepEd has identified 6,713,352 learner beneficiaries, who will be assisted by 447,537 tutors and 45,084 school heads.

ARAL-Reading will roll out in the second quarter of the school year. In later phases, the program will expand to cover ARAL-Mathematics (Grades 1–10), ARAL-Science (Grades 3–10), and ARAL-Summer Programs.

To prepare, DepEd has already conducted tutor training sessions, distributed learning resources, and launched the ARAL School Readiness and Responsiveness Audit. Tutors — composed of teachers, para-teachers, pre-service teachers, and trained individuals — will receive proper training and compensation. Parents and guardians will also be tapped through orientations to reinforce lessons at home.

The ARAL Program builds on the gains of DepEd’s previous literacy initiatives, such as the Bawat Bata Makababasa Program and the Nationwide Learning Recovery Program, which both showed improvements in reading and learning outcomes among participating learners.