The Department of Education’s (DepEd) policy to implement the “Catch-Up Fridays” will help fast track the country’s learning recovery program, Senator Sherwin Gatchalian said on Friday, January 19.

Gatchalian said he sees the necessity of implementing the program which is aimed at improving students’ reading proficiency, considering that a significant number of the country’s learners struggle with reading.

For one, he pointed out, results of the 2022 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) showed that 76 percent of the country’s 15-year-olds have not achieved the minimum proficiency in reading.

“Sinusuportahan natin ang pagpapatupad ng ‘Catch-Up Fridays’ dahil ito ay mag-aambag sa pagpapalakas ng kakayahan ng ating mga mag-aaral na bumasa (We support this mechanism of ‘Catch-Up Fridays’ because this will assist in strengthening our students’ capability in reading),” said Gatchalian, chairperson of the Senate Committee on Basic Education.

“Nakita natin sa datos na marami sa ating mga mag-aaral ang nangangailangan ng tulong pagdating sa pagbabasa, kaya naman mahalagang suportahan natin ang mga programang tutugon sa pangangailangan nila, (Based on data, many of our students need help in terms of reading, that’s why it’s important this program that will cater to their needs),” the senator said.

For the 2022 round of PISA, the lawmaker noted that the Philippine’s average (347) in Reading is still below the average of countries under the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) countries (476).

OECD is the body that conducts the PISA. The organization also indicated that, at the minimum, the country's 15-year-old learners can understand the literal meaning of sentences or short passages.

Launched last January 12 under DepEd Memorandum No. 001 s. 2024, the “Catch-Up Friday” program is being implemented in all public elementary and high schools nationwide, as well as in community learning centers (CLCs) nationwide.

Under the memorandum, all Fridays of January shall be dedicated to the “Drop Everything and Read” activity.

The DepEd has described “Catch-Up Fridays” an integral part in the National Reading and Mathematics Programs, both of which are critical subprograms of the National Learning Recovery Program (NLRP).