DepEd pleads for P16B to save ARAL program after zero budget in 2027 plan

MANILA, Philippines: The Department of Education (DepEd) is asking Congress for P15.98 billion to keep the Academic Recovery and Accessible Learning (ARAL) Program alive, after the proposed 2027 national budget left the flagship learning intervention with zero allocation.

Education Secretary Sonny Angara broke the news to the House appropriations committee on Monday, September 7, confirming that the program that has helped millions of struggling students would get nothing under the 2027 National Expenditure Program (NEP).

“There's a zero allotment for this under the 2027 budget,” Angara told lawmakers.

What is the ARAL Program and why does it matter?

The ARAL Program, institutionalized through Republic Act No. 12028 in October 2024, is the government's main answer to the learning crisis. It provides targeted intervention for public school students who are falling behind in reading, mathematics, and science.

For many families across the archipelago, from urban classrooms in Manila to remote rural schools, this program has been a lifeline. The numbers back that up.

“The program has good results because out of the 6.67 million students that entered the ARAL Program, we saw at the end of the [previous] school year (2025-2026) that there were 4.5 million fewer struggling readers, with 2.5 million students improving to grade-level reading,” Angara said in a mix of English and Filipino.

In the 2026 national budget, the ARAL Program received P8.9 billion. That funding made a real difference in classrooms. Now, with zero in the proposed 2027 budget, those gains are at risk.

Teachers carry the load, but who pays?

Ruby Bernardo, national chairperson of the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT), did not hide her disappointment. She warned that without proper funding, the burden falls back on teachers who are already stretched thin.

“Kung mananatili 'yan sa teachers natin, malaki ang epekto niya sa learning recovery ng mga bata. Kung walang pondo, wala ring maha-hire na external tutors,” Bernardo said. (If the task would remain with the teachers, it would have a huge effect on the learning recovery of children. If there's no funding, there would be no hiring of external tutors.)

There is also an unresolved question of whether teachers should be paid extra for ARAL tutoring work. Republic Act 12028 is clear that teachers only get overload pay if they exceed six hours of teaching. But what about the time spent on remediation sessions?

Angara said the DepEd is now studying the possibility of giving cash food allowances, if the Commission on Audit allows it. The agency is also looking at including some teacher tasks, like peer-mentoring sessions and student advising, within the six-hour teaching load.

Experts urge Congress to fund the program

Karol Mark Yee, executive director of the Second Congressional Commission for Education, told Rappler that Congress should fund the ARAL Program because it is an “urgent need.” Millions of students still struggle to read at their grade level.

But Yee also sounded a note of caution. He said there must be a thorough review of how the DepEd spent the nearly P9 billion allocated this year. Accountability matters, especially when taxpayers' money is on the line.

Beyond ARAL: A bigger budget problem

The ARAL Program is not the only thing facing cuts. The DepEd, including its attached agencies, may get P976 billion under the 2027 NEP. That sounds like a lot, but it is actually less than the P1 trillion the department received in 2026.

Angara laid out the full wishlist to lawmakers:

• P145.19 billion in additional funds for the DepEd
• P1.74 billion more for attached agencies
• P33.53 billion for new personnel, since the proposed budget has no allocation for hiring new teachers

The school-based feeding program also took a hit. The proposed P11 billion is a sharp drop from the P25.7 billion in 2026. Angara warned that the feeding cycle might shrink from 180 days to 120 days, and universal feeding for all Grade 1 pupils could be scrapped.

The budget requests also cover measures to address school violence, strengthen school safety, and expand access to mental health services.

When asked how the cuts could affect DepEd's reforms, Angara was candid: “It would slow it down a little bit, but we are hoping for a restoration of some of the items.”

What happens next?

The ball is now in Congress's court. Lawmakers have the power to restore funding for the ARAL Program and other critical education initiatives during budget deliberations.

For millions of Filipino students and their families, the stakes could not be higher. The learning crisis did not disappear just because the budget did.

This story was adapted from a Rappler report.