DepEd, DSWD renew partnership on government tutoring program

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Education (DepEd) has renewed its partnership with the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to implement the Marcos administration’s flagship tutoring program for school-age children.

Education Secretary Sonny Angara signed a memorandum of agreement with Social Welfare Secretary Rex Gatchalian last week for the continuation of the two agencies’ joint implementation of the Tara, Basa! Tutoring Program (TBTP).

“We are very grateful for this partnership with the DSWD. Definitely, it will improve the delivery of services with learning, and I think the interface with the DSWD and the DepEd will be very fruitful and productive for our children and young learners,” Angara said in a statement.

The TBTP program links college students taking education and youth development officers with Grade 1 learners identified as struggling readers or incoming Grade 2 non-readers for tutoring sessions.

It includes “Nanay-Tatay Teacher Sessions” to equip parents and guardians with tools to support their children’s literacy development.

Tutors are given financial aid in exchange for their services.

Marcos recently declared the TBTP as a flagship program of his administration through Executive Order 76, Series of 2024 signed last Nov. 22.

“I know this has been very successful, it was declared a flagship program by Malacañang recently, and we are very happy and fortunate to be part of it and we will do our best to make it succeed,” Angara said.

In its first year of implementation this 2024, the TBTP reached 120,359 college students, struggling and non-reader elementary learners and parent beneficiaries, according to the DepEd.

Angara said that through an inter-agency effort among national government agencies, state universities and colleges, local government units and other stakeholders, the TBTP aims to reach 207,000 total beneficiaries next year.

“This is probably going to be one of the many collaborations with the DepEd with the whole purpose of helping kids finish school, learning how to read and at the same time transitioning, like I said, from pure straight-out social welfare to something conditional and developmental,” Gatchalian said.

In the renewed partnership of the two agencies, the DepEd will identify and assess learner-beneficiaries, improve capacity-building design for tutors with the Ateneo Center for Educational Development, provide school venues and assist in logistical arrangements.