The Department of Education (DepEd) on Tuesday reported measurable improvements in reading outcomes under the Academic Recovery and Accessible Learning (ARAL) Program, citing assessment data showing significant reductions in the number of struggling readers across grade levels, as the Marcos administration allocates Php8.93 billion in the proposed 2026 national budget to fully scale up the program nationwide.
Education Secretary Sonny Angara said the proposed Php8.93-billion allocation marks the first time ARAL will be fully funded since it was institutionalized into law, enabling the program to scale up proven strategies to help learners catch up in reading and mathematics.
“Dito po sa ARAL Program, unprecedented din po iyong spending. Ito iyong para humabol tayo dahil lumalabas na nahuli na ang ating mga bata sa reading and math,” Angara said during Malacañang’s press briefing on Tuesday.
Based on DepEd’s Middle of School Year (MoSY) assessments with a 96 percent submission rate as of January 5, 2026, the proportion of struggling readers dropped compared with the beginning of the school year.
Among Grades 3 to 6, reading readiness improved by an average of five points, while Grades 7 to 10 recorded gains of up to six to nine points, translating to 3.42 million learners in Grades 3–6 and 1.72 million learners in Grades 7–10 moving closer to grade-level proficiency in reading.
Behind the figures are learners like Rachel, a Grade 7 student from Iriga City. At the start of the school year, Rachel often hesitated to read aloud. After joining the ARAL Program, she now reads better in both Filipino and English and has gained confidence in class. “Salamat kasi may natutunan ako sa pagbabasa, napakalaking tulong po ito sa akin,” Rachel said, thanking her tutor and teacher for the support she received.
The department said these improvements were driven by structured remediation, focused tutorial sessions, and regular learner monitoring under the ARAL Program—interventions that will be expanded and standardized with full funding in 2026.
Under full funding for 2026, DepEd plans to engage more than 440,000 tutors nationwide, including both DepEd and non-DepEd personnel.
Angara said the expanded budget would enable wider participation of external and volunteer tutors, reducing reliance on teacher overtime and easing classroom workload pressures.
With increased resources, DepEd estimates that ARAL coverage will expand to about 6.7 million learners in School Year 2026–2027, nearly double the roughly three million learners reached in 2025. The department said funding will also support tutor training aligned with literacy standards, improved learning materials, and strengthened monitoring and evaluation systems, including learner tracking through the Learner Information System.
The support of the President and the Congress for the program signals a shift from short-term learning recovery toward embedding remediation permanently within the basic education system, as the department continues to address persistent learning gaps in reading and mathematics nationwide
