Inadequate teacher training for ‘Catch Up Fridays’ stalls reading progress

February 23, 2024 | 11:09am

Students of Aurora Aquino Elementary School in Malate, Manila actively participate during their first day of classes on August 29, 2023.

STAR / Edd Gumban

MANILA, Philippines — Teachers’ lack of in-depth training on how to help struggling readers weakens the impact of the Department of Education’s “Catch Up Fridays” program, according to the initial assessment of the Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM 2).

DepEd’s weekly reading intervention program aims to close the reading gap among Filipino students by dedicating half of Fridays to reading and writing, but EDCOM 2 warned that just getting students to read texts is not enough to improve their skills.

Around 90% of Filipino children aged 10 struggle to read simple text, according to the World Bank’s 2022 data on learning poverty — a metr