DepEd optimistic on ‘ARAL’ program

The Department of Education (DepEd) reported a significant decrease in the number of struggling readers nationwide, crediting a newly institutionalized recovery program that is set to receive nearly P9 billion in funding this year.

Education Secretary Sonny Angara said the P8.93 billion allocation for the Academic Recovery and Accessible Learning (ARAL) Program marks the first time the initiative will be fully funded since becoming law.

The program aims to help students catch up in reading and mathematics following pandemic-era learning losses.

“This is unprecedented spending,” Angara said during a press briefing at Malacañang. “This is for us to catch up because it appears our children have lagged behind.”

Department data based on midyear assessments showed reading readiness improved by an average of five points for students in grades 3 to 6, and by six to nine points for those in grades 7 to 10. Officials estimate that more than 5 million learners moved closer to grade-level proficiency during the first half of the school year.

With the 2026 budget, the department plans to hire more than 440,000 tutors, including teachers and volunteers.

Angara said the influx of external tutors would help reduce teacher overtime and classroom workload pressures as the agency expects the program to reach 6.7 million learners in the 2026–2027 school year, nearly double the volume reached in 2025.

The report comes as Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, vowed Wednesday to exercise strict oversight over the record P1.35 trillion total education budget for 2026.

The allocation represents 4.4 percent of the country’s gross domestic product, marking the first time the Philippines has met the UNESCO benchmark of 4 to 6 percent.

Gatchalian said that while the large budget is an important step, the Senate will closely monitor funds to ensure they benefit students and teachers directly.

Key portions of the 2026 budget include P85 billion for classroom construction, P25.6 billion to expand school feeding programs from 120 to 200 days and P37.4 billion for the law covering tuition in state universities and colleges.