Metro Manila, January 12 ------ Public elementary and secondary schools will begin to hold so-called Catch-up Fridays today as part of measures to address low proficiency among students in a number of subjects, according to the guidelines issued by the Department of Education (DepEd). “All Fridays of January 2024 shall be dedicated to the “Drop Everything and Read” (DEAR) activity and orientation for field officials. It shall also be used as a venue to gather feedback from field implementers on the guidelines of Catch-up Fridays,” DepEd Memorandum 001 s. 2024 dated Jan.10 said.
Aside from aiming to improve reading skills, Catch-up Fridays will also focus on values, health, and peace education. The DepEd said activities will not be graded because its main objective is to reinforce learning. A sample class program for Grade 1 learners shows over two hours will be spent on Filipino, English, and Math and another two hours on MAPEH, Araling Panlipunan, and Homeroom guidance.
The agency said in a press briefing on Thursday that this is one of its measures to improve student comprehension, especially in reading. Vice President and Education Chief Sara Duterte first raised the idea last year ahead of the release of the 2022 Programme for International Student Assessment or PISA results. The PISA results showed Filipino students still lagging in reading, math, and science.
Catch-up Fridays was discussed during an education sector meeting in Malacañang on Thursday where Duterte briefed President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on measures to improve overall performance of Filipino learners. “Alam naman natin na hindi ganoon kabilis ang pag-increase ng proficiency level, it takes years bago talagang ma-develop ang mga estudyante natin so we’ll just have to continue doing the reforms that we have started in this administration,” Education Undersecretary Gina Gonong said told reporters after the meeting.
Gonong said the PISA report is important because this measures the preparedness of students in real-life situations. Aside from Catch-up Fridays, the DepEd also said the president directed the agency to focus on measures to address teaching quality, teacher welfare, and student nutrition.
Source: cnnphilippines.com
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