Recognizing the challenges that confront the country’s education system, the Department of Education (DepEd) underscored the need to strengthen efforts and initiatives to address the issues related to learning in basic education.

Among the areas that the DepEd is currently focusing on is reading. Given this, the agency has lined up various activities during the National Reading Month (NRM) this November.

“This Pambansang Buwan ng Pagbasa serves as a reminder to us in the light of our performance in national and international assessment tests that we must double our efforts to close the learning gap particularly in the area of reading,” Education Secretary Leonor Magtolis Briones said.

“It is considered the cornerstone of learning,” she added.

Reading progress tool

Among the initiatives of DepEd to further close the gap in the area of reading is the “Reading Progress Tool” which has now reached more than 23 million learners and 950,000 teachers nationwide.

“Through the Reading Progress tool, learners can record their own reading progress and gain a sense of independence in reading,” Undersecretary for Curriculum and Instruction Diosdado San Antonio explained. “Teachers can track the reading progress of students easily and efficiently,” he added.

San Antonio expressed confidence that if all stakeholders work together to ensure that every child becomes a reader, “we will be able to sustain quality efforts in easier ways.”

“A wide and avid reader explores the world of knowledge on his or her own, so let's make the youngsters excited to read,” he added.

Love for reading

Spearheaded by the DepEd Curriculum and Instruction strand through the Bureau of Learning Delivery (BLD), the nationwide celebration of the NRM aims to promote love for reading among learners and the whole school community.

BLD Director Leila Areola emphasized that it is imperative for schools to ensure that “all learners understand the importance of reading and to foster in them the inspirational power to read.”

With the theme, “Bawat Bata Bumabasa sa Kabila ng Hamon ng Pandemya,” the month-long celebration features the conduct of innovative reading activities.

These include the “Dugtungan Pagbasa” where young learners from different selected regions showcase their creativity in story reading and the Reading Cup, a gamified reading contest aimed at assessing the reading fluency level of students from Grades 7 to 12 using the Reading Progress tool.

One of the highlights of the activities include the capacity-building on storytelling, which was held concurrently with the virtual launch to empower teachers, parents, and learning facilitators and featured techniques from established writers and professional storytellers.

Other activities include Reading Ambassadors wherein accomplished and enthusiastic storytellers read to learners nationally awarded stories about family, friendship, and love and the Reading Challenge which enjoins DepEd staff to read a book weekly.

The “Araw ng Pagbasa Challenge,” on the other hand, serves as the culminating reading activity wherein everyone is encouraged to pause synchronously for at least 15 minutes to read.