President Marcos Jr. signs ARAL Act into law on October 11, 2024 | Contributed Photo
MANILA, Philippines – President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. signed the Academic Recovery and Accessible Learning (ARAL) Act into law during a ceremony at Malacañang Palace on Friday, marking a significant milestone in the government’s efforts to address the learning gaps exacerbated by the pandemic.
Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero, House Speaker Martin Romualdez, Education Secretary Sonny Angara, Senate Sherwin Gatchalian, and Rep. Roman Romulo witnessed the president signing the bill.
The ARAL Law, a priority measure identified by the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC), aims to create a national learning intervention program designed to help struggling learners catch up with the required standards for their grade levels.
Angara noted the critical intervention when education needed the most support and praised the president for prioritizing the measure that the DepEd would spearhead. The ARAL program is a free national learning intervention program that will target teachers, para-teachers, previous pre-service teachers, or students enrolled in a teacher degree program offered by Teacher Education Institutions.
The program will improve students’ competencies in essential learning areas, including reading and mathematics for Grades 1 to 10 and science for Grades 3 to 10. Meanwhile, for the Kindergarten learners, the ARAL Program will focus on building foundational skills to strengthen their literacy and numeracy competencies.
In addition, to ensure the effectiveness and accessibility of learning, tutorial sessions will be conducted in three flexible delivery modes. Learners can choose from face-to-face tutorials, online tutorials, or a blended learning approach. All learners can participate based on their needs and circumstances with these choices
–With Jay Doming/PDM.
