MEASURES COMPLEMENTING MATATAG AGENDA

EMYLEEN C. PALLASIGUI

As the Department of Education implements learning recovery programs, including Catch-Up Fridays, officials are also pushing for the passage of Senate Bill (SB) 1604 or ARAL Program Act, seeking to institute a nationwide learning recovery program to mitigate the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and to boost learners' literacy and numeracy.

Vice President and DepEd Secretary Sara Duterte also said that the department is currently reviewing the senior high school program.

In relation to this, officials are pushing for the passage of SB 2367 (Batang Magaling Act) which seeks to strengthen the linkages and collaboration among the DepEd, local government units, the academe, and industry partners.

This will help boost the employability of senior high school graduates.

SB 2367 aims to ensure that senior high school graduates are well-prepared for higher education, middle-skills development, employment, or entrepreneurship

Meanwhile, to uphold teachers' welfare, officials are also pushing for the passage of the Revised Magna Carta for Public School Teachers (SB 4670).

Under the proposed measure, classroom teaching hours shall be reduced from six to four. It prohibits the assignment of non-teaching tasks to teachers and seeks the grant of calamity leave, educational benefits, longevity pay, and special hardship allowance based on a set criteria.

Under the 2024 national budget, PHP777.5 million has been allotted for teachers’ in-service training, including the training of K to 10 teachers for the rollout of the MATATAG curriculum.

These are some of the measures that would complement the realization of DepEd's MATATAG Agenda and improve learners' performance.

-oOoThe author is a Teacher I at Amsic Integrated School