Senator Sherwin Gatchalian on Monday resounded the alarm over the negative impact of the prolonged school closures to a Filipino child’s learning skill as he pressed the need to open all schools for limited face-to-face classes and implement a learning recovery program.
Gatchalian made the call after the United Nations Children’s Fund’s (UNICEF) latest joint report with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and World Bank showed that less than 15 percent of Filipino children can read or understand a simple story at age 10.
The figure is slightly lower than the 90 percent learning poverty reported by the World Bank last November. In 2019, the learning poverty rate in the Philippines was estimated at 69.5 percent.
The same report also pointed out that the Philippines has the longest period of school closures, next to Uganda, where the period of school closures is nearing the 70-week mark.
"Kailangang tutukan natin ang pagbangon ng sektor ng edukasyon upang matiyak na natututo nang husto ang ating mga mag-aaral (We need to put our focus on the education sector to make sure that our students are learning),” said Gatchalian who chairs the Senate Committee on Basic Education, Arts and Culture.
“Sa ating pagbangon, dapat nating tiyakin ang ligtas na pagbabalik ng mga mag-aaral sa mga paaralan bilang pangunahing hakbang (As we recover from the Covid-19 pandemic, we need to make sure that our students are safe as they return to their schools for in-person classes),” he pointed out.
Gatchalian stressed opening all schools for limited face-to-face classes is the first step to address the impact of the Covid-19 on the education sector.
And to address learning losses, the senator, who is seeking re-election in the upcoming May 2022 polls said a comprehensive learning recovery program must be conducted nationwide.
Last year, the senator filed Senate Bill No. 2355, a measure that seeks to institute a learning recovery program to known as the Academic Recovery and Accesible Learning (ARAL) program.
The program aims to cover the most essential learning competencies under Language and Mathematics for Grades 1 to 10, and Science for Grades 3 to 10.
The Aral Program also seeks to prioritize Reading to develop the critical and analytical thinking skills of learnings. And for Kindergarten learners, literacy and numeracy competencies would be given focus.