The Teachers’ Dignity Coalition (TDC) said that some teachers are allegedly being “forced” to participate as tutors and contribute funds following the rollout of the Summer Remediation Program (SRP) under the Academic Recovery and Accessible Learning (ARAL) Program.
“We received reports that teachers are really being forced to volunteer,” TDC National Chairperson Benjo G. Basas said in Filipino in an announcement yesterday.
“Some reports also stated that those that didn’t volunteer are still required to report to highschool, and even contribute money to pay the salary of the external tutor,” he added.
The SRP goals to assist learners from Grades 2 to 11 achieve grade-level proficiency in reading and arithmetic. A network of tutors, reminiscent of teachers, para-teachers, pre-service teachers, and qualified volunteers, is about to deliver targeted interventions for college kids.
Under the 2026 budget, the Department of Education (DepEd) allocated P9 billion for the ARAL program, and is predicted to rent about 448,000 tutors nationwide.
Nevertheless, based on TDC’s initial survey, many teachers raised concerns concerning the “non-voluntary nature” of this system and questioned the absence of funding for external tutors.
“The regular teaching load is already burdensome, and yet they might still add this ARAL program that’s presupposed to have a budget for external tutors,” Mr. Basas said.
“They’re still expecting the drained teachers to hold the burden, so where did or where would the budget for this system go?” he added.
TDC also flagged the low turnout of scholars for the summer remediation classes, which can “foreshadow similar implementation problems” once the ARAL program rolls out during regular school days.
“If we are able to’t implement it properly, it could be best to pause, review the issues encountered, and supply solutions for them before proceeding,” Mr. Basas said.
“Otherwise, the cash, time, and energy of everyone may go to waste due to a program that can not be properly carried out,” he added.
Mr. Basas noted that the ARAL program is a “band-aid solution” for the education sector’s long-term problems, reminiscent of an absence of classrooms, books, and teachers’ support. “If all of those are addressed, there clearly won’t be a necessity for remediation.”
The SRP, which runs from May 6 to Jun. 2, 2026, targets to support 2.7 million learners nationwide. — Almira Louise S. Martinez