THE Department of Education (DepEd)-Davao Region has ramped up efforts to boost literacy and numeracy competencies among schoolchildren across all levels while addressing the learning gaps exacerbated by the absence of face-to-face instruction during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Speaking during the Kapihan sa Bagong Pilipinas on October 15, DepEd-Davao Regional Director Allan Farnazo admitted that the learning gap caused by the pandemic is a huge challenge faced by the education sector in the country.
He added that this is significantly concerning among learners from Kindergarten to Grade 3, where the basic or foundational literacies are introduced and mastered.
“Napakalaking hamon ang antas ng kaalaman of our learners of course brought about by the three years of no face to face instruction lalo sa na mga simula na grade levels kung saan dapat matutunan ng mga bata yung mga basic o foundational,” he explained.
To address the learning gap, Farnazo said that right after the schools reopened for full face-to-face classes, they conducted a massive administration of the institutionalized region-wide assessment through the project Aims (Assessment Information Management System) to determine both the learned and non-learned competencies of all learners in every subject area.
“Pagkatapos ng pandemic ay nagsimula tayo na gusto talaga natin malaman ang antas ng mga hindi kaalaman at natutunan ng mga bata kaya nagkaroon tayo ng project AIMS, ito yung ating assessment for the learner’s level of reading and non-learned competencies in different subject areas,” he explained.
Anchored on the results of the project Aims, Farnazo said that they have developed and implemented several interventions that specifically focus on enhancing the numeracy and literacy competencies of the learners.
DepEd-Davao assistant regional director Rebonfamil Baguio revealed these interventions include the “Catch-up Fridays” program, focusing on operationalizing the National Reading program and National Math Program.
For the National Reading Program, Baguio said this has recently been introduced in schools across the region, where there are prescribed reading activities for every grade level to address the concerns and challenges of reading.
“So with that daily conduct of this National Reading Program, it is expected that we will be able to level up and raise the reading comprehension, probably if that is the case, word recognition and other issues surrounding the reading competency of our students,” Baguio said.
Besides the reading program, they also implemented the National Math Program, which focuses on improving the numeracy competency of the learners.
“We don’t want to compartmentalize reading per se, but we also would like to holistically address the issue not just reading but also the numeral competency of our students,” Baguio explained.
Moreover, while implementing interventions to enhance learners’ literacy and numeracy competencies, Baguio said they also implemented enrichment programs for advanced students to further develop their knowledge and skills in various areas. PIA DAVAO