TL;DR: The ARAL Program (Academic Recovery and Accessible Learning) is DepEd's free national tutoring program under Republic Act No. 12028, rolled out through DepEd Order No. 018, s. 2025 and launched nationwide on September 16, 2025. It targets public school learners in Kindergarten to Grade 10 who are behind in reading and math (Grades 1-10) or science (Grades 3-10), including those returning from a furlough. Sessions run up to one hour per subject on weekdays or two hours on weekends, taught by teachers, para-teachers, trained volunteers, or (since January 2026) non-teaching "support aides," at a recommended 1:5 tutor-to-learner ratio. Schools identify and assign learners through screening; there's no separate parent application form. For SY 2026-2027, its first fully funded year, DepEd says it is aiming to cover about 6.7 million learners with roughly 440,000 tutors.
If your child came home with a lower report card grade than usual, or the teacher mentioned "ARAL" during enrollment or a parent-teacher meeting, this is the DepEd tutoring program they mean. DepEd created ARAL as its main response to learning gaps left by the pandemic and by furloughs, and Republic Act No. 12028, which established it, was signed into law by President Marcos on October 18, 2024. This guide walks through who qualifies, how the tutoring schedule works, who runs the sessions, and how it connects to your child's grades and report card. All figures below come from the law itself and DepEd's implementing order.
What Is the ARAL Program?
ARAL (Academic Recovery and Accessible Learning) is a free, DepEd-run tutoring program for public school learners who are struggling in reading, mathematics, or science. It exists alongside regular classroom instruction, not instead of it, and is meant to close specific skill gaps rather than replace a full school year.
RA 12028's declaration of policy commits the State to "protect and promote the right of all citizens to quality education" through "a free and effective national learning intervention program" for learners struggling in reading, mathematics, and science. The Act covers Kindergarten to Grade 10 in public basic education institutions, and DepEd Order No. 018, s. 2025, signed June 13, 2025, supplies the operating detail: schedules, tutor qualifications, session limits, and school reporting duties. DepEd rolled ARAL out nationwide on September 16, 2025, and by SY 2026-2027 says the program covers roughly 6.7 million learners supported by about 440,000 tutors, its first year with full funding under the national budget.
Disclaimer: DepEd orders and their implementation details can be updated or clarified by later memoranda. Confirm current ARAL scheduling and eligibility with your child's school or Schools Division Office.
Who Qualifies for ARAL Tutoring?
A learner qualifies if they fall into one of three groups defined in RA 12028: those returning to school after an absence or furlough, those performing below the minimum proficiency level in reading, math, or science, and those who fail periodic exams or tests during the school year. Kindergarten learners are covered for foundational skills generally, while Grades 1-10 are covered specifically for reading and math, and Grades 3-10 for science.
Schools don't wait for a parent to flag a problem. DepEd Order No. 018, s. 2025 requires schools to run beginning-of-school-year (BOSY) assessments within the first two weeks to one month of classes, using tools such as the Comprehensive Rapid Literacy Assessment (CRLA), the Rapid Mathematics Assessment (RMA), and the Philippine Informal Reading Inventory (Phil-IRI). Results from these screening tools, not a sign-up sheet, determine which learners get pulled into ARAL sessions. A midline assessment after the second quarter checks whether a learner can graduate out of tutoring or needs to continue, and an end-of-school-year (EOSY) assessment about a month before the Quarter 4 exam flags learners who may need ARAL again the following school year.
| ARAL Coverage | Detail |
|---|---|
| Grade levels | Kindergarten to Grade 10 |
| Reading and Math | Grades 1-10 |
| Science | Grades 3-10 |
| Screening tools | CRLA, RMA, Phil-IRI |
| Screening window | First 2 weeks to 1 month of the school year (BOSY) |
| Progress check | Midline assessment after Quarter 2 |
| Year-end check | EOSY assessment, about 1 month before the Q4 exam |
How Are ARAL Sessions Scheduled?
DepEd caps weekday tutorial sessions at one hour per learning area, and weekend sessions at two hours total for reading, mathematics, and science combined, per DepEd Order No. 018, s. 2025. Schools can run sessions as a pull-out during regular class hours, before or after school, on weekends, or as a dedicated summer program, and delivery can be face-to-face, online, or blended depending on what the school and division can support.
The order also sets a recommended tutor-to-learner ratio of 1:5, with a maximum of 1:15 if a school's staffing or space is limited. Every school is required to reflect its ARAL schedule and any additional tutoring manpower on School Form 7, which is submitted to the Schools Division Office for monitoring, evaluation, and technical assistance. That paperwork requirement is one reason ARAL implementation can look slightly different from one school to the next: a school with more available teachers can run smaller groups and more sessions, while a short-staffed school may need to lean on the 1:15 ceiling.
The rollout itself is phased. ARAL-Reading and ARAL-Mathematics began in SY 2025-2026 and launched nationwide on September 16, 2025. An ARAL Summer Remediation Program then ran from May 6 to June 2, 2026, under DepEd Order No. 010, s. 2026, at a tighter 1:10 tutor-to-learner ratio. ARAL-Science is phasing in during SY 2026-2027 — DepEd has not published a separate nationwide launch date for it the way it did for ARAL-Reading — alongside the continued phase-in of the MATATAG curriculum and a new three-term school calendar (DepEd Order No. 009, s. 2026) that replaces the old four-quarter system with three terms, each ending in a block of days set aside specifically for ARAL and other remediation.
The rollout hasn't been friction-free everywhere. In May 2026, the Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM 2), Congress's oversight body for basic education, reported that some schools faced delayed release of tutor funding and couldn't staff enough tutors for the summer program, leaving identified learners without sessions until the shortfall was resolved. If your school reports a similar gap, that's typically an administrative delay in hiring or funding, not a sign your child was dropped from the program.
Who Tutors Under ARAL, and Are They Qualified?
Tutors under ARAL include licensed teachers, para-teachers, pre-service teacher education students, retired professional teachers, and other individuals DepEd considers qualified, competent, and of good moral character. RA 12028 defines a para-teacher specifically as someone who took the Licensure Examination for Teachers (LET) but did not pass it and has since been issued a special permit by the Board for Professional Teachers, which widens the pool of available tutors beyond currently licensed classroom teachers.
Since January 2026, DepEd Memorandum No. 001, s. 2026 has also let schools bring in volunteer "support aides" — helpers who assist tutors with non-instructional tasks such as preparing materials or supervising vision screenings, but who don't run tutorial sessions themselves. The same memorandum sets the order schools follow when filling paid tutor slots: incumbent DepEd teachers with fewer than six teaching hours first, then LET-eligible applicants, licensed teachers from the locality, retired teachers, para-teachers, other education graduates, pre-service teachers, and finally other qualified community members.
One safeguard built into the law: a teacher cannot serve as the ARAL tutor for their own students in the same subject. DepEd Order No. 018, s. 2025 also requires all tutors, regardless of category, to complete mandatory training and demonstrate teaching competency before they're assigned learners.
Compensation differs by tutor type. Regular teachers who take on tutoring duties are paid teaching overload pay, capped at two hours based on the Prime Hourly Teaching Rate, or receive vacation service credits for sessions run on weekends or holidays. Para-teachers and other non-teacher ("external") tutors were originally engaged under DO 018, s. 2025 through a Contract of Service running six to twelve months at minimum regional wage rates; DepEd Memorandum No. 001, s. 2026 has since moved external tutors onto job order engagements paid the Prime Hourly Teaching Rate of a Teacher I position for actual hours taught, released monthly subject to fund availability, with a Special Education Fund top-up still possible where a local government provides one. Support aides are volunteers and don't draw a DepEd salary, though an externally sponsored aide may receive incentives from whichever agency sponsors them.
How Does ARAL Connect to My Child's Grades?
ARAL tutoring is meant to raise a learner's competency in the specific skill gap identified during screening, which should show up in classroom performance, but it is a support intervention, not a separate grading track. A child's actual quarterly and final grades are still computed under DepEd's regular classroom assessment policy, using Written Work, Performance Tasks, and Examinations weighted by subject and converted through the transmutation table where applicable for the current school year.
Because ARAL sits alongside, not inside, the report card grade, parents shouldn't expect to see a separate "ARAL grade" on Form 138 or SF9. What you should expect is documented progress: schools are required to track each learner's assessment data (pre-, midline, and post-assessment results) in the Learner Information System and to include ARAL activities in the School Improvement Plan, both of which a parent can ask to review at a parent-teacher conference.
How Do I Get My Child Into ARAL?
Since ARAL enrollment runs through school screening rather than a parent application, the most direct path is proactive communication with your child's teacher and school. Practical steps:
- Ask the class adviser directly whether your child was screened under CRLA, RMA, or Phil-IRI at the start of the school year, and what the results showed.
- Request the BOSY or midline assessment results in plain terms — schools are required to communicate learner progress to parents, and RA 12028's implementing order specifically calls for regular parent communication.
- Flag a struggling child yourself if screening was missed or if new difficulties emerge mid-year (for example after a transfer, illness, or an extended absence that counts as a furlough).
- Ask about the delivery format your school uses (pull-out, after-school, weekend, summer, or — starting SY 2026-2027 — the dedicated end-of-term remediation block under the new three-term calendar) so you can plan around it, especially if transportation or a working schedule makes certain formats harder to attend.
- Check whether ARAL-Science has started at your child's school if your concern is Grade 3 and up, since DepEd has not published a specific nationwide launch date for that component the way it did for ARAL-Reading.
- Ask if a tutor has actually been assigned, not just whether your child was flagged for ARAL. EDCOM 2 documented funding delays and tutor shortages at some schools during the 2026 summer program; if your child qualifies but sessions haven't started, that gap is usually a staffing or funding delay rather than a change in eligibility.
- If your child is out of school entirely rather than behind in a subject, ARAL isn't the right fit — look instead at the Alternative Learning System, which serves out-of-school children and youth.
For a wider view of how ARAL fits into the rest of DepEd's basic education system, see our parent's guide to the Philippine education system.
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Sources
- Republic Act No. 12028 — full text (LawPhil)
- DepEd Order No. 018, s. 2025 — Implementing Guidelines of the ARAL Program (DepEd.gov.ph)
- DepEd Memorandum No. 001, s. 2026 — Guidelines on the Engagement of ARAL Tutors and Support Aides (DepEd.gov.ph)
- DepEd Order No. 009, s. 2026 — Guidelines on the Implementation of the Three-Term School Calendar (DepEd.gov.ph)
- DepEd Order No. 010, s. 2026 — Guidelines for the Implementation of 2026 Summer Remediation Programs (DepEd.gov.ph)
- DepEd launches ARAL Program to strengthen students' foundational skills (Philippine Information Agency)
- DepEd to expand ARAL to 6.7M learners, taps over 440K tutors (Philippine News Agency)
- EDCOM urges DepEd to address delays in hiring of ARAL tutors (EDCOM 2)
- SchoolFinderPH — DepEd Grading System Guide
- SchoolFinderPH — DepEd Transmutation Table Explained
- SchoolFinderPH — MATATAG Curriculum Guide
