SENATOR Sherwin Gatchalian urged the Department of Education to implement more intervention programs to help struggling learners.

Gatchalian made the statement after advocacy group Philippine Business for Education, in its State of Education Report, warned that mass promotion in schools leads to a lack of mastery in fundamental skills.

The report, based on consultations with more than 300 stakeholders including teachers and school leaders, pointed to the flawed connections between student outcomes, performance-based bonus awarded to teachers, and schools’ ranking in regions.

The report also pointed out how participants misunderstood the “No Child Left Behind” concept, which led to teachers promoting students regardless of their mastery of competencies.

Those who participated in the consultations also lamented how they are being held responsible for learners’ failures and the consequences of retaining or failing underperforming learners.

Gatchalian said the persistence of a culture of mass promotion, amid the lack of an official policy that promotes it, will have devastating consequences to learners and to national development.

He said there is a need for a thorough assessment of learners, which should serve as the basis for providing remediations and other interventions.

“Hindi na natin dapat ipagpatuloy ang kultura na para lang makatapos ang mga mag-aaral ay kailangan na silang ipasa, pero hindi naman sila natututo. Imbes na makatulong, magdudulot ito ng pinsala sa kanila at sa ating bansa. Kailangan nating tutukan kung paano matutulungan ang ating mga guro at mag-aaral upang matiyak na walang kabataan ang mapag-iiwanan,” Gatchalian said.

The careful determination and assessment of learners are among the premises of the ARAL Program Act or Senate Bill 1604 which Gatchalian filed to address learning loss.

The measure mandates the DepEd to conduct an assessment before the start of the ARAL Program to identify the learners who need intervention.