Duterte’s Catch-up Fridays, nat’l learning camps flawed–Edcom 2
Vice President Sara Duterte’s programs during her time as concurrent secretary of the Department of Education (DepEd) could have been beneficial to the education sector, but only if there were no flaws that undermined them.
The Second Congressional Commission for Education (Edcom 2) flagged some of Duterte’s programs for deficiencies, such as “Catch-Up Fridays” and the National Learning Camps (NLC) under the National Learning Recovery Program (NLRP) that were introduced in 2023.
The NLRP forms part of Duterte’s much-hyped “Matatag agenda” for DepEd. The program continued even after Duterte resigned in July 2017, and was succeeded by former Sen. Juan Edgardo Angara.
Catch-Up Fridays, according to Edcom’s Year 2 report, was aimed at dedicating Fridays to activities that improve reading skills and comprehension, and integrate values, health, and peace education.
But the commission found flaws in the program’s design.
“Despite initial efforts, Catch-Up Fridays appeared to lack robust teacher training, adequate lesson guides and clear guidelines on research-based reading interventions,” Edcom said in its annual report.
“The absence of reliable assessment and support for teachers to enhance their reading literacy skills has hampered progress,” it also stressed.
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Edcom also raised concerns about the NLC program which, according to DepEd Department Order No. 014 signed by Duterte in 2023, is a voluntary learning recovery program offered every end-of-school-year break “to complement learning efforts in the previous school year and provide a firmer basis for further gains in the upcoming school year.”
Under the NLC, students can enroll in one of three camps: Enhancement Camp, Consolidation Camp, or Intervention Camp.
The Enhancement Camp is designed to enhance learning for advanced students by providing them with more depth, breadth, and complexity of learning area competencies.
Consolidation Camp provides further practice and application of previously-taught competencies, while the Intervention Camp is aimed at supporting learners who have yet to grasp their skills in foundational mathematics and foundational English.
However, Edcom commissioners flagged the NLC program, saying that the camps do not align with the required grade-level competencies.
For example, Grade 8 students will focus on basic arithmetic instead of more advanced topics such as algebra and quadratic equations.
“This discrepancy leaves learners lagging behind in both current and earlier grade-level proficiencies,” Edcom pointed out. “Additionally, the program suffers from a lack of critical data to assess the program’s effectiveness.”
The NLC’s voluntary structure, as well as the “inadequate data collection,” resulted in its “inefficient allocation and utilization of resources,” Edcom stressed.
Read: Teachers’ pockets can’t catch up with ‘Catch-Up Fridays’
