🧠 A Fresh Look at ARAL‑Reading tutors and Training Approaches
The ARAL‑Reading tutors initiative under DepEd Order No. 18, s. 2025 introduces not only remedial support for struggling learners but also a shift toward community and pre‑service empowerment. Rather than simply filling tutor roles, the program now embraces a broader capacity‑building approach grounded in collaboration between DepEd, NEAP, CHED, LGUs, and other stakeholders.
This multi‑agency collaboration ensures that trainings address not just reading remediation techniques, but also interpersonal skills, social‑emotional learning, and cultural competency—critical in diverse Filipino classrooms.
🏫 Recruitment Standards for ARAL‑Reading tutors – Who Can Help?
DepEd allows three categories of tutors under ARAL‑Reading:
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DepEd teachers not assigned to their own learners
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Pre‑service teachers enrolled in recognized teacher education programs
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Other qualified individuals with relevant experience, competence, and good character
What’s new here is the emphasis—according to DO 18, s. 2025 Item 50—on prior foundation in literacy strategies or remediation as a plus, raising the bar for tutor quality.
📚 Capacity‑Building via NEAP and Partner Institutions
The National Educators Academy of the Philippines (NEAP) leads professional development for tutors, field implementers, school heads, master teachers, and supervisors entering the ARAL ecosystem. Training modules focus on effective pedagogy, learner profiling, progress tracking, and inclusive learning environments.
NEAP coordinates with CHED, TEIs, LGUs, and DSWD to enrich these sessions, aligning with broader educational goals and leveraging wider stakeholder engagement.
🤝 Field Implementers & School Leaders: Training That Strengthens Implementation
Not only tutors benefit: school heads, master teachers, technical staff, and supervisors also undergo capacity‑building activities to guide and support tutors in the field. This layered training model ensures tutoring quality is sustained through oversight and mentorship.
Such comprehensive training supports the program’s emphasis on well‑systematized tutorial sessions, learner‑centered approaches, and alignment with holistic support services like nutrition and mental health.
📅 How This Enhances ARAL Implementation in School Year 2025–2026
Starting in the second quarter of SY 2025–2026, ARAL‑Reading sessions will ramp up across schools beginning to organize personnel and resources, backed by the capacity‑building components of training, coordination, and data‑driven assessment.
Embedding professional development into annual school improvement and implementation plans ensures the ARAL program becomes sustainable, not a one‑off intervention. These sessions are designed to be integrated, data‑informed, and aligned to national standards.
📌 Why This New Angle Matters
By focusing on the ecosystem of capacity-building around ARAL‑Reading tutors, this post goes beyond tutor selection. It uncovers the program’s transformation into a holistic system of professionalization, support, and sustainability, built on partnerships and aligned with national policy.
This perspective shows that ARAL‑Reading tutors aren’t just temporary helpers—they’re part of a national strategy to build literacy capacity across educational communities.