Marcos pledges ARAL program, 40K classrooms to tackle learning crisis

During his fourth State of the Nation Address on Monday, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. emphasized aggressive actions and expanded support to address the learning crisis in the Philippine education sector.

Marcos acknowledged issues such as widespread learning poverty, high dropout rates, and persistent gaps in reading, math, and science proficiency among Filipino learners.

The President touted the rollout of the Academic Recovery and Accessible Learning (ARAL) program for structured interventions in foundational skills, summer tutorials, and remedial classes to improve educational outcomes.

Marcos committed to constructing 40,000 classrooms before the end of his term in partnership with the private sector and announced the construction of over 300 Barangay Child Development and Bulilit Centers this year.

To support student well-being, Marcos ordered the hiring of more school counselors and expanded feeding programs, while also announcing compensation for public school teachers' overtime and teaching overloads.