The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has started the first reading and Nanay-Tatay teacher session of the expanded Tara, Basa! Tutoring Program in seven participating regions, an agency official said on Monday (July 1).

“With the expansion of the Tara, Basa! Tutoring Program, we aim to aid more college students in difficult circumstances to pursue or complete their studies through provision of cash-for-work (CFW) under this reformatted educational assistance program,” DSWD Asst. Secretary for Disaster Response Management Group (DRMG) Irene Dumlao said.

After the pilot implementation in the National Capital Region (NCR), the agency partnered with the local government units (LGUs) of Regions 3 (Central Luzon), 7 (Central Visayas), 8 (Eastern Visayas), 10 (Northern Mindanao), 12 (SOCCSKSARGEN), and CALABARZON for the expansion of the tutoring program.

For this year’s target, the DSWD is planning to recruit some 10,289 2nd to 4th year college students to serve as tutors and Youth Development Workers (YDWs) to the 85,213 struggling and non-reader incoming Grade 2 students who have been pre-selected.

Tutors will conduct 20 reading sessions for the struggling and non-reader elementary learners while the YDWs will hold Nanay-Tatay teacher sessions for parents and guardians of the grade school beneficiaries from July 1 to 26.

Tutors and YDWs will receive cash-for-work (CFW) based on the regional daily minimum wage

In exchange for their rendered tutoring and learning sessions,

Asst. Secretary Dumlao, who is also the DSWD spokesperson, said tutors and YDWs are from select state universities and colleges (SUCs) and local government-run universities, and belonging to low-income families.

Parents and guardians of the elementary learners will also receive cash aid worth Php235 per day for their attendance to the Nanay-Tatay teacher sessions and by rendering assistance in preparing the needs of their children in the learning and reading sessions, and assisting them in their after-reading session assignments.

In preparation for the expansion of the tutoring program, the DSWD and its Field Offices in the participating regions conducted capacity building activities among tutors and YDWs.

“Apart from teaching materials, we also provided transportation allowance to tutors and YDWs to defray their transportation expenses as they attend the learning sessions,” the DSWD spokesperson said.

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. #