Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Rex Gatchalian and Bacoor City  Mayor Strike B. Revilla led the roll out of the Tara, Basa! Tutoring Program at the Strike Gymnasium in Bacoor, Cavite on Monday (June 3).

In his message, Secretary Gatchalian explained that the Tara, Basa! Tutoring Program does not only provide educational assistance to qualified college students, but also allows them to become more involved in community development.

“Nababalitaan nyo ‘yan na maraming pumupunta sa opisina ng DSWD, kumukuha ng educational assistance kaya ang naging plano namin, baguhin nang kaunti itong programa na ito. Oo magbibigay tayo ng ayuda pero sana yung mga nakakatanggap nito na mga college students eh pinagtatrabahuhan din nila ito para may taya tayo sa komunidad,” the DSWD chief said.

(You have heard that many people go to the DSWD office to get educational assistance, so our plan is to modify this program a bit. Yes, we will provide aid, but hopefully, the college students who receive this will also work for it so that we have a stake in the community.)

Sec. Gatchalian also pointed out that the implementation of the Tara, Basa! Tutoring Program will help address the problem of illiteracy in the country.

“Kaya natin ayusin ang illiteracy pag sama-sama tayo. Naniniwala ako na mula sa hanay ng mga college students natin sa Cavite State University, mula sa mga social workers sa mga lokal na pamahalaan, pati na rin sa ating mga magulang at sa lahat ng bumubuo nitong program na ito, in 20 days’ time ay makakakita tayo ng improvement sa pagbasa sa mga kabataan natin sa Grade 2,” Sec. Gatchalian said.

(We can address illiteracy if we work together. I believe that from our college students at Cavite State University, from the social workers in local governments, as well as our parents and everyone involved in this program, in 20 days’ time, we will see an improvement in the reading skills of our Grade 2 children.)

To formalize the implementation of the program in Bacoor City, Sec. Gatchalian signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with Mayor Revilla and Cavite State University Vice President for Academic Affairs Dr. Ma. Agnes Nuestro.

The MOA signing was witnessed by DSWD Undersecretary for Innovations Eduardo Punay, Bacoor City Vice Mayor Rowena Mendiola, DSWD Field Office IV-A (Calabarzon) Regional Director Barry Chua, Department of Education (DepEd) Calabarzon Assistant Regional Director Dr. Loida Nidea, Cavite State University Bacoor Campus Administrator Prof. Menvyluz Macalalad, Schools Division Superintendent Dr. Babylyn Pambid, and Bacoor City Social Welfare and Development Office Head Emiliana Ugalde.

For the roll out in Bacoor City, the program targets some 2,802 struggling and non-reading elementary learners, 280 tutors, and 56 Youth Development Workers (YDWs) to benefit from the Tara, Basa! Tutoring Program.

The schedule for the capability building session for the college student-participants is on June 13 to 15.

The guests also signified their commitment and support towards the successful implementation of the program by signing a pledge of commitment book.

The Tara, Basa! Tutoring Program is the DSWD’s reformatted educational assistance that creates a learning ecosystem, wherein college students will be capacitated and deployed as tutors and YDWs to help improve the reading proficiency of elementary students who are struggling to read or are non-readers.

The tutors and YDWs, in return, will receive regionally-accepted minimum wage to support their educational needs. #