As an estimated 28 million students returned to public schools for the opening of School Year 2026-2027 on Monday, Acting Senate President Win Gatchalian emphasized the critical need to intensify national efforts to address learning gaps among Filipino students.
In an official statement, Gatchalian called for the strengthened implementation of the Academic Recovery and Accessible Learning (ARAL) Program.
The initiative is designed to provide targeted tutorial support to struggling students and help them develop essential academic competencies.
“Sa pagbubukas ng panibagong taon ng pag-aaral, kailangang tiyakin nating nabibigyan ng sapat na suporta ang bawat mag-aaral, lalo na ang mga nahihirapang makahabol sa klase.”
According to the senator, the program has been granted a record-high allocation of ₱8.9 billion. This funding is intended to assist approximately 6.7 million learners in Reading and 8.08 million learners in Mathematics.
“Sa pamamagitan ng ARAL program, mas mapapalakas ang pundasyon ng mga bata sa Reading, Math, at Science upang walang mapag-iiwanan sa pagkatuto.”
Gatchalian noted that the budget will also fund the recruitment of around 440,000 tutors to implement the program nationwide.
The senator added that the introduction of the new three-term academic calendar is expected to enhance the effectiveness of the ARAL Program. Under this revised setup, each academic term concludes with a dedicated period for student remediation, enrichment activities, co-curricular programs, teacher development, and wellness breaks.
This school year, the Department of Education (DepEd) is officially implementing the Three-Term School Calendar for Kindergarten to Grade 12.
DepEd stated that the new trimestral system aims to maximize instructional time and reduce the administrative workloads of teachers by organizing the required 201 school days into three continuous learning blocks.