THE SECOND Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM 2) is urging the Department of Education (DepEd) to broaden its intervention programs to include all struggling readers, particularly those identified as transitioning readers.

This call comes after a series of site visits to Gotamco and Jose Rizal Elementary Schools in Pasay City.

The visits were part of EDCOM 2’s ongoing monitoring of DepEd’s learning recovery initiatives and the rollout of its 2025 Summer Programs. These efforts aim to gather firsthand insights from students, educators, and local officials about the effectiveness of current literacy remediation programs.

EDCOM 2 commended DepEd’s targeted literacy efforts, including the Bawat Bata Bumabasa initiative in Region 9 and the nationwide Literacy Remediation Program for Grade 3 students.

“These programs directly align with our call for targeted learning recovery and fixing the foundations,” said EDCOM 2 Executive Director Karol Mark Yee.

“DepEd’s use of the Comprehensive Rapid Literacy Assessment, small group instruction, and intensive drills shows promising progress,” he added.

Parents and students reported improvements in reading skills and increased confidence from the summer programs.

“Mas naging confident po siya, at medyo nabawasan ang hiya,” shared one parent, describing her child’s development after joining the intervention classes.

Despite these gains, EDCOM 2 stressed the need to expand the program’s coverage. According to CRLA data, 2.85 million learners—or 52.26% of students in Grades 1 to 3—are still not reading at grade level. However, most interventions currently focus only on Low Emerging Readers.

The Commission is now calling on DepEd to support transitioning readers—students who demonstrate partial fluency and comprehension and could catch up to grade level with targeted assistance. Based on the latest CRLA data, there are nearly 1.7 million such learners nationwide.

“Maganda na yung programs, but they can be improved,” said EDCOM 2 Co-Chairperson Rep. Roman Romulo. “Teachers are telling us they need more time to focus on just reading, reading, reading.”