SENATOR Sherwin Gatchalian has expressed concerns over the 2022 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) results which indicated that the Philippines ranked 76th out of 81 countries in reading proficiency.
Gatchalian said the assessment also showed that 76 percent of the country’s 15-year-old students did not meet the required reading competency standards.
In light of the nationwide celebration of National Reading Month this November, Gatchalian emphasizes the urgent need to improve reading proficiency among learners to address the country’s education crisis.
Following the enactment of the Academic Recovery and Accessible Learning (ARAL) Program Act (Republic Act No. 12028), Gatchalian anticipated the implementation of structured tutorial sessions and organized intervention plans aimed at enhancing literacy and reading skills among students.
This law, which Gatchalian authored and sponsored, establishes the ARAL Program as a national intervention initiative designed to ensure mastery of essential competencies and address learning loss.
ARAL focuses on key learning competencies under the K to 12 Basic Education Curriculum, specifically targeting reading and mathematics for Grades 1 to 10, and science for Grades 3 to 10. The program aims to strengthen literacy and numeracy skills among Kindergarten learners to build a solid foundation for their education.
