THE House Committee on Basic Education and Culture chaired by Pasig City Rep. Roman Romulo met on Wednesday to examine the pilot implementation of the “Tara, Basa!” program, including issues and challenges encountered, in preparation for the launch of the program’s Phase 2 next month.
“Ano ung measurement ninyo para masabi na successful siya (‘Tara Basa’) o hindi? Hindi na pwede yung inputs, yung sasabihin ninyong Ateneo ang nagpapalakad nito, that means nothing. At the end of the day, kailangan natin outcomes-based. Gusto naming malaman bakit ninyo naisip mag-phase 2,” Romulo asked the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), the program’s proponent.
The Phase 2 of “Tara Basa” would expand the coverage area of the program.
Elma Salamat, Social Welfare Officer IV and head of the National Program Management of ‘Tara Basa,’ explained that the program is a developmental and reformative assistance that aims to alleviate the plight of poor families.
“We are targeting poor families of college students, who will be beneficiaries of fast forward assistance. Secondly, the parents or guardians of the learners who are poor; and third, the learners who will be tutored by trained college students. We are encouraging college students to tutor non-readers or struggling readers identified by the Department of Education (DepEd) to be tutored in a span of 20 days,” she said.
Romulo urged both the DSWD and the DepEd to properly coordinate to address issues surrounding the implementation of “Tara Basa” before launching Phase 2.
“I think you have to do pencil pushing before you launch (Phase 2). May mga batas kasi na na-mention, like the Safe Spaces Act, at yung sa Parents Effectiveness Service Act. I think the DSWD and the DepEd have to meet on that. DSWD has to be collaborative with DepEd bago ninyo ma-launch ito,” he said.
Dr. Cristito Eco, assistant regional director of DepEd-NCR, said teachers were not included in the tutorial program in the original design of “Tara Basa.’”
He said the idea of having a shadow teacher was meant to protect young learners during tutorial session.
He said DepEd was concerned on who will be made accountable in case something happens to the young learner in the course of the tutorial sessions.
Helen Suzara, director of the DSWD Social Technology Bureau, explained that the non-involvement of teachers in the tutorial sessions was stipulated in the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the pilot phase of ‘Tara Basa’.
“Naka-stipulate kasi doon during the signing of the MOU, hindi dapat i-disturb ang teachers from their work, so kasama na i-disallow ang involvement ng teachers.”
“Regarding child protection, nandudoon ang mga parents, nasa area lang, vicinity (of the tutorial area). At the same time, kumuha din kami ng consent sa mga parents para i-entrust ang mga bata during the (tutorial) session. That was during the first implementation of the program kasi nagkasabay na may klase pa at the same time, nagta-‘Tara Basa’ session. Sa DepEd galing yun (stipulation of non-involvement),” she added.
Romulo also said that the DSWD and the DepEd also needs to work together to find out if the approval of local universities and colleges (LUCs) is needed since they have their own boards.
Bukidnon Rep. Laarni Roque lauded the ‘Tara Basa” program because many people benefit from it.
“Maging eye-opener sana ito sa DepEd na ma-strengthen sana natin ang reading levels ng mga bata. Dapat sa lower level, agapan na natin ang mga bata para di na natin kailangan mag-pull-out ng bata para ma-tutor,” she said.
Sam Soliven, Director III of the DepEd Bureau of Curriculum Development, appreciated the discussions, saying these were inputs to the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) that will be issued after the release of an Executive Order on “Tara Basa” program.
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