Over 5,000 slow readers in Tacloban schools undergo tutorial

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TACLOBAN CITY, Leyte, Philippines — At least 5,209 elementary and secondary level students in public schools who were identified to be “nonreaders and struggling learners” by the Department of Education (DepEd) schools division here were made to undergo school-based tutorials to bridge the learning gap.

Nilo Eder, information officer of the DepEd Tacloban City Schools Division, said interventions have to be implemented to help students from 56 public schools in the city.

Based on the DepEd’s assessment, 79 of these students were nonreaders, or those who could not read at all, while 5,288 were classified as struggling learners, or those who could read but with difficulty.

“The intervention involves a tutorial method for these students. Post assessments are done to determine the improvement of these students,” Eder said.

“So far, there are significant improvements noted. However, there are still learners who need help. So we continue with our initiatives,” he added.

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A struggle

A Grade 1 teacher, who requested anonymity, said that of her 25 students, almost half have difficulty reading.

“Teaching these learners is a struggle on my part as I have to give them special time and attention. So what I did was I asked my co-teacher to handle my learners who could now read as I focus on these learners,” she said.

She said she has noticed some improvements in these students since tutorials were made.

Eder said the COVID-19 pandemic that hit the country in 2020 contributed to the learning gap.

“It is a fact that the pandemic has really affected the quality of education. It will take years to recover,” he said.

“Of course, we are not happy about it. We acknowledge that there is a problem to be addressed with urgency. And we are getting positive results with our initiatives. We are very optimistic we will be able to achieve the desired improvements we wish for our learners,” Eder added.

He said they were happy that the Latter-day Saint (LDS) Charities provided some school-based materials to the 56 schools with nonreaders and struggling students.

“We are confident that these materials will significantly contribute to the division’s ongoing efforts in addressing learning gaps exacerbated by the two-year closure of schools due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” Eder said.

Among the donated items by the LDS Charities were tutorial cards, whiteboards, pencils, notebooks, tubs, flash drives, worksheets, handbooks, and laminating films.