DepEd starts ARAL program vs learning crisis

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Education formally issued a memorandum directing all schools to implement the Academic Recovery and Accessible Learning (ARAL) Reading program in phases, as part of the government’s efforts to address the country’s learning crisis.

DepEd Undersecretary and chief of staff Fatima Panontongan issued DepEd Memorandum 64, addressed to all concerned public and private school officials, directing them to implement the ARAL-Reading program.

“The ARAL-Reading aims to provide timely, responsive and effective support to learners who fall below the expected reading proficiency levels, enabling them to catch up with the grade-level expectations set by the DepEd,” Panontongan said.

She added that DepEd Memorandum 64 operationalizes the implementation of the ARAL-Reading for key stages 1 to 3, in accordance with Republic Act (RA) 12028 or An Act Establishing an ARAL Program.

“ARAL-Reading shall begin in the second quarter of school year 2025- 2026. Schools that require more time to organize personnel and resources are directed to coordinate with the schools division office regarding the appropriate steps to take,” Panontongan said.

The ARAL program offers free tutorials for students with learning gaps. Based on DepEd’s rapid assessment, around three million out of the 24 million enrolled students are struggling with functional literacy.

“The ARAL-Reading addresses the urgent need to improve reading proficiency among Grades 1 to 10 learners by applying structured, learner-centered and targeted instruction that is appropriate to a learner’s reading ability rather than their age or grade level,” Panontongan noted.

She added for Grade 1, the ARAL program will start in the third quarter of SY 2025- 2026, while for Grades 2 and 3, it will begin in the second quarter of SY 2025-2026.

“For Grades 4 to 10, the Program shall start in the second quarter of SY 2025-2026 or as soon as the school has met the readiness indicators for the program, whichever is earlier,” Panontongan said.

She said schools should prioritize low and high emerging learners in Key Stage 1 and learners in the frustration level in Key Stages 2 and 3.

Panontongan said school officials should administer the Comprehensive Rapid Literacy Assessment and Philippine Informal Reading Inventory for Grades 1 to 3 and Grades 4 to 10, respectively, to identify the learners to be covered in the ARAL-Reading program.

“The results, along with other available data on learners’ reading levels, shall be used to identify those who will be included in ARAL-Reading,” she added.