The Senate on Monday, March 6 approved on third and final reading the bill establishing a well-designed, well-systematized learning recovery program that would address pandemic-related learning loss.
Twenty-two (22) senators voted yes to Senate Bill No. 1604 or the Academic Recovery and Accessible Learning (ARAL) Program Act; only Senate Minority Leader Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III voted against the bill.
The proposed ARAL program will cover students who were not able to enroll starting School Year 2020 to 2021 and those who are below the minimum proficiency levels required in language, math, and science.
Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian, author of the measure, said students in private schools may also avail of the interventions provided for under the measure upon request.
Tutors under the ARAL Program shall include teachers and para-teachers, while qualified senior high school and tertiary level students, as well as pre-service teachers may also volunteer as tutors.
Senior high school tertiary level students who serve as tutors for a period of two semesters shall also be given credits equivalent to their Literacy Training Service under the National Service Training Program (NSTP).
“Isang mahalagang hakbang ang pagpasa ng Senado sa ating panukalang ARAL Program upang mapaigiting ang pagbangon ng sektor ng edukasyon mula sa pinsalang idinulot ng pandemya ng COVID-19 (The passage of our ARAL Program proposal by the Senate is an important step to strengthen the recovery of the education sector from the damage caused by the COVID-19 pandemic),” said Gatchalian, chairman of the Senate Committee on Basic Education.
“Titiyakin nating makakahabol sa kanilang mga aralin ang ating mga mag-aaral (We will make sure that our learners would be able to catch up on their studies),” the senator said.