A group of education workers questioned the decision of the Department of Education (DepEd) for teachers to hold enrichment classes for learners who received low grades this school year.

“Was this move even consulted with experts, school administrators, teachers, parents, and even students?” said Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) Philippines spokesperson Vladimer Quetua.

Quetua was referring to the DepEd Order No. 25 s. of 2022 or the Implementing Guidelines on the Conduct of Remedial and Advancement Classes During Summer for the K to 12 Basic Education Program issued on June 7.

The said order instructs the holding of enrichment classes for Grade 1 to 11 students who got a grade of 75 to 79.

“While attending enrichment class is voluntary, all of a sudden, parents are confronted with the dilemma of possible additional expenses for the prolonged school days for their children, while teachers are anxious if their period of rest will be disrupted by this hasty order,” Quetua said, noting that the said order was issued just two weeks before the end of the School Year (SY) 2021-2022.

Quetua questioned the “abrupt and arbitrary” order of DepEd and the effectiveness of the measure in serving its claimed purpose of addressing the learning gaps brought about by the sudden shift in learning modalities due to the pandemic.

He noted that it would be best for the DepEd to start assessing the students to concretely see and understand the nature and extent of the learning crisis.

“From here, necessary measures and adjustments in the curriculum and pedagogy must be done to address the learning gaps that are observed across the student population, while special intervention measures can be crafted to assist learners who are lagging behind,” he added.

Given this, ACT asked DepEd to scrap the said order and called on the agency to roll out a “comprehensive and evidence-based program” to address the learning crisis in the coming school year.