DepEd quizzed on textbook, Catch-Up Friday challenges

The Second Congressional Commission on Education, or EDCOM 2, on Thursday said the Department of Education has committed to delivering 80 percent of the textbooks for Grades 1, 4 and 7 by July this year.

The commitment was made by DepEd Bureau of Learning Resources Director Ariz Cawilan during the EDCOM 2 meeting at the University of the PhilippinesBGC.

Also, the DepEd noted that the award to successful bidders for textbooks will be issued next month, while the issuance of a Notice to Proceed will be given in April. Only then would the printing of textbooks begin.

The department said it had issued a Call for Textbooks last September 2023, noting that it was on an earlier date than usual.

In its Year One Report entitled “Miseducation: The Failed System of Philippine Education,” EDCOM 2 raised concerns that only 27 Grade 1 to Grade 10 textbooks had been procured since 2012.

“Specifically, since the introduction of the K to 12 curriculum, only Grades 5 and 6 textbooks had been successfully procured,” the report said.

Amid the report, EDCOM 2 urged the DepEd to implement an effective strategy to ensure timely textbook procurements for the upcoming school year.

It also recommended that DepEd consider procuring books already available on the market rather than engaging publishers to develop new ones.

Executive Director, Dr. Karol Mark Yee, said the previous timeline took about six months for printing and about six months for delivery.

“So now, they’re saying that in the revised timeline, between April, May, June, July, what used to be one year will now be four months,” he said.

Senator Win Gatchalian, who chairs the Senate Committee on Basic Education, asked DepEd if it could print at least eight million books in three months.

“Is that possible? Because coming from the old system, printing takes almost a year plus,” he said.

“By July, we’ll have around 80 percent of textbooks for Grades 1, 4, [and] 7,” Cawilan replied.

EDCOM 2 also delved into the DepEd’s learning recovery program, including Catch-up Fridays.

On 12 January, DepEd issued Memorandum 01, series of 2024, setting aside every Friday for school activities intended to improve students’ reading skills and comprehension.

Citing EDCOM consultations, Yee lamented that Catch-Up Fridays “do not appear to be structured to optimize learning recovery.”

“It seems that teachers have not been provided in-depth training on how to conduct effective reading interventions. While reading classes focus on ‘reading’ more texts, they do not necessarily help the students improve their reading skills,” he said.

Delving into the problems stemmed from the Comprehensive Rapid Literacy Assessment data in Regions IV-B, V, VI, VIII and NCR.