Tinio: DepEd ARAL guidelines backtrack on 'tutors, not teachers' promise; use full P8.96B and guarantee proper pay, support

House Deputy Minority Leader and ACT Teachers Party-list Representative Antonio Tinio raised serious concerns over the Department of Education’s newly issued guidelines for the rollout of the Academic Recovery and Accessible Learning (ARAL) Program and Summer Remediation Program (SRP) from May 6 to June 2, 2026, warning that the policy appears to contradict DepEd’s earlier assurances to Congress that ARAL would be handled by hired tutors and not by already overburdened DepEd teachers.

“During budget deliberations, DepEd repeatedly assured Congress and the public that ARAL would be implemented by tutors—not by regular DepEd teachers,” Tinio said. “But the guidelines now explicitly include DepEd teachers as possible ARAL tutors and even direct school heads to tap Master Teachers and highly proficient teachers. That is a clear backtrack.”

“Hindi puwedeng magsabi ang DepEd sa Kongreso na hindi ikakarga sa mga guro ang ARAL, tapos sa aktwal na guidelines, guro pa rin ang sasalo,” Tinio said. “Kung ganito ang implementasyon, dagdag trabaho ito sa mga guro na wala nang mapiga sa sobrang bigat ng load.”

Tinio also flagged operational issues that could undermine the program’s effectiveness, including orientation and capacity-building scheduled only days before implementation, and the expanding list of duties that may be assigned to tutors beyond academic remediation.

“ARAL is supposed to address learning gaps, but you cannot rush preparation, widen responsibilities, and then expect quality outcomes,” Tinio said. “This becomes another ‘program on paper’ if it is implemented through last-minute directives and unfunded expectations.”

Tinio urged DepEd and DBM to fully utilize and transparently account for the ARAL budget allocation secured during the 2026 budget process, including the P8.96 billion earmarked for hiring tutors and related implementation needs, to ensure that the program does not devolve into token incentives and unpaid or underpaid labor.

“We pushed for sufficient funding precisely so DepEd can hire enough dedicated tutors, provide materials and training, and pay people properly,” Tinio said. “DepEd must show, line by line, how the P8.96 billion will be used to support learners—and how tutors and teachers will be compensated fairly, including overload and overtime where applicable.”

“Hindi sertipiko o service credit ang katapat ng mabigat na remediation work,” Tinio said. “Dapat may malinaw na sahod, benepisyo, at sapat na suporta—hindi ‘subject to available funds’ na palusot.”

Tinio added that learning recovery efforts will remain limited if DepEd continues to ignore the structural conditions that deepen learning gaps—overcrowded classrooms, shortages in learning materials, and the chronic overwork and underpayment of teachers and education support personnel.

“Learning recovery cannot be built on teacher burnout,” Tinio said. “If DepEd is serious about closing learning gaps, it must fund what it announces and stop pushing the burden down to the school level without the resources to match.” ###