A teachers’ group has raised concern over the worsening workload pressures in public schools under the three-term school calendar, saying reforms intended to streamline the academic year are being offset by additional program demands and long-standing staffing shortages.

The Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) Philippines said field reports and survey data show that 70 percent of public-school teachers are handling six or more teaching loads, while 75 percent are managing classes of 31 to 50 learners.

For ACT, the numbers indicate that the system has failed to reduce classroom strain despite repeated policy assurances meaningfully.

The Department of Education (DepEd) earlier implemented the three-term academic calendar, a reform introduced as part of broader efforts to improve learning recovery, reduce congestion in school schedules, and streamline assessment periods by reducing grading cycles.

Alongside this shift is the rollout of the ARAL program, a national learning recovery initiative designed to provide targeted interventions for students who are struggling academically following pandemic-related disruptions.

Implementation gap flagged

But ACT said its field validation suggests a growing gap between that design and actual implementation in schools.

ACT chairperson Ruby Bernardo said teachers are being drawn into ARAL implementation despite earlier assurances that the program would be handled primarily by hired tutors funded through a multibillion-peso allocation.

DepEd has earmarked around P8.9 billion for ARAL and previously indicated plans to deploy hundreds of thousands of tutors nationwide to support learning recovery efforts without adding to teachers’ workloads.