Gatchalian pushes for systematized tutorial sessions to help offset learning loss 

A REELECTED senator on Thursday called for the implementation of systematized tutorial sessions to help offset the learning loss in the past two years due to pandemic restrictions.  

The program will support struggling learners by covering learning competencies under Language and Mathematics for Grades 1 to 10 and Science for Grades 3 to 10. Literacy and numeracy will also be given focus to build the educational foundation of kindergarten learners.  

“As the various sectors continue to rise, we must ensure that the education sector is not left behind,” Senator Sherwin T. Gatchalian, who chairs the Senate Basic Education, Arts and Culture Committee, said in Filipino in a statement on Thursday.  

The National Economic and Development Authority has estimated that two years without face-to-face learning would result in P22 trillion in productivity losses.  

The senator noted that the education department’s push for the students’ return to physical classes is just the first step to recovery.  

A Senate bill filed in the recently concluded Congress, called Academic Recovery and Accessible Learning Program, sets a P20-billion budget for implementation, including compensation for teachers and para-teachers who will serve as tutors. — Alyssa Nicole O. Tan