DepEd provides interventions to fight against “learning poverty”

The Department of Education (DepEd) said on Wednesday it planned interventions to tackle the problem of “learning poverty” in the Philippines, which has reached 90% according to a recent World Bank study.

According to DepEd, it is “proactively” dealing with the problem of learning poverty in the country even before the start of the pandemic.

“Amid the public health situation, we continued to roll out our reforms in the curriculum, learning environment and professional development of teachers through our Sulong EduKalidad campaign. We are also preparing for our participation in upcoming international assessments to closely assess our efforts, ”the statement read.

“The issue of poverty in learning has been a dilemma for the country for years and the ministry has been proactively addressing it in the long term,” he added.

In a World Bank Study published on November 16, it reported that learning poverty, which is the inability to read and understand a simple text by the age of 10, reached 90% in the Philippines.

Its report, titled “Distance Learning During COVID-19: Lessons for Today, Principles for Tomorrow,” also showed that distance learning participation among schoolchildren was only 20% in the Philippines, which is the lowest rate with Ethiopia.

“According to data from March 2021, the adoption of distance learning varies considerably from country to country, ranging from 100% of children participating in distance learning since the closure of schools in Bulgaria to 52 % in Burkina Faso, as low as 20 percent in Ethiopia and the Philippines, ”the study reads.

Reacting to these reports, DepEd said it has launched programs such as the Bawat Bata Bumabasa (3Bs) initiative which calls on their field offices to create “contextualized approaches to increase the reading skills of learners.”

In addition, DepEd said it has implemented the Every Child a Reader (ECARP) program which incorporates strengthened initiatives on Language, Literacy and Numeracy (ELLN) curriculum, mother tongue-based multilingual education ( MTB-MLE) and educational retooling in mathematics, languages, and Science (PRIMAUX).

For the next administration, DepEd also said it has put in place an education development plan to help improve the quality of education in the country.

“With the goals of the Sulong EduKalidad campaign and the Basic Education Development Plan (BEDP) 2030 which must materialize in the years to come, we are leaving behind a laudable mission to pursue for the next DepEd administration,” the education department said.

“We have come a long way in our quest for a quality education, but we are not yet finished our journey. Our efforts must be coherent, cohesive and collaborative if we are to succeed in providing a quality education for every child. Filipino, ”he added.—LDF, GMA News