THE HOUSE Committee on Basic Education has adopted a resolution calling for the suspension of the Department of Education’s regular academic program in favor of an eight- to twelve-week literacy and numeracy recovery initiative.

During the hearing on House Resolution 1805, DepEd Undersecretary for Curriculum and Teaching Gina Gonong presented the department’s plan, which includes a special science program and a targeted literacy and numeracy curriculum for 1.6 million learners in Grades 7-10.

The initiative is scheduled to begin in the first half of the 2024-2025 school year and aims to prepare students for the 2025 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), which will focus on Science.

DepEd will use the Revised Philippine Informal Reading Inventory and Rapid Math Assessment as pre- and post-assessment tools.

A major concern raised during the committee discussion was the adequacy of teacher training for the recovery program. EDCOM 2 findings reveal that 62% of high school teachers in the Philippines teach subjects outside their college specializations.

EDCOM 2 Executive Director Karol Mark Yee highlighted this issue, asking, “How will DepEd implement the special science program for next year’s PISA if more than half of our science teachers do not specialize in science?”

In addition to concerns about teacher training, the timely availability of learning materials for the recovery program was another key issue discussed.

Basic Education and Culture Chairperson Representative Roman Romulo emphasized that the House Resolution is aimed not at improving PISA results but at ensuring quality education.

“This is why the resolution calls for suspending the regular academic program. We have the National Learning Camps and Catch-Up Fridays, but they haven’t been effective. So we are saying, let’s put a halt to the regular programming,” Romulo said.