Teachers had to catch up with ‘Catch-Up Fridays’

MANILA, Philippines — “I will never forget Catch-Up Fridays. It was introduced to us one Thursday and then the next day, Friday, it had to be implemented.”

A public school teacher had this wry recollection of one of the major initiatives of the Department of Education (DepEd), which was meant to address learning gaps among students but ended up being largely ineffective, shapeless, and short-lived.

He was not alone in his exasperation. In a recent report, the Second Congressional Commission on Education (Edcom 2) cited Catch-Up Fridays as one of the DepEd projects that should have been sufficiently thought out.

In its Year 2 report released last week, Edcom noted the lack of robust teacher training, adequate lesson guides, and clear guidelines for the implementation of the project, which was introduced during the two-year stint of Vice President Sara Duterte as concurrent education secretary.

‘Drop Everything...’

Launched in January last year, the project called for remedial classes on Friday for low-performing students, particularly those still falling behind in reading skills corresponding to their grade levels.

It was formalized through DepEd Memorandum No. 001, series of 2024, which directed all elementary and secondary schools and community learning centers nationwide to dedicate all Fridays to reading activities dubbed DEAR, or “Drop Everything and Read.”

The memo was signed by DepEd Undersecretary Gina Gonong and was dated Jan. 10, 2024, a Wednesday.

According to Vladimer Quetua, a senior high school teacher in Quezon City and chair of the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT), his school head told the teachers about the program on Jan. 11—and that it should already be implemented on Jan. 12, the very next Friday.

Settling for ‘Snow White’

In an Inquirer interview, Quetua said the teachers were not given any learning materials or guidelines specific to Catch Up, let alone enough lead time to prepare for it.

“Everyone in the school was surprised by it,” he said. “First question: what are we going to teach? Second: who will we teach under this program?”

But just to comply with the memo, Quetua said, he had no choice but to “pick the first book” he saw in his department library.

That first book was “Snow White”—and that was what he used for the first attendees of Catch-Up Friday at his school.

When the second Friday came, “there were [still] no learning materials. So whatever we saw in our [library], we had no choice but to take it,” he said. For that second session, he used “an old Britannica Dictionary.”

Photos required

Amid these ad hoc arrangements, Quetua said, the teachers were still required to “document” Catch-Up Friday by taking photos of the session.

“It’s based on [findings] that nine out of 10 children have low reading comprehension,’’ he said. “So, let me reiterate the question: Who among our specific students will we teach under this program? It was all vague, and we were told to just take pictures while our students are reading a book.”

“It was not effective and you could see that there was really a lack of preparation before it was ordered to be implemented in public schools nationwide. All of us struggled at that time,” Quetua said.

The Edcom report captured the teacher’s frustration, albeit couched in milder language: “The absence of reliable assessment and support for teachers to enhance their reading literacy skills has hampered progress.”

‘Well-intentioned,’ but...

Duterte stepped down as DepEd chief in July 2024. In the absence of a formal notice on its status, some schools continue to hold Catch-Up Fridays while others have since suspended it, the Inquirer learned.

Sought for comment, Education Secretary Sonny Angara, Duterte’s successor, acknowledged that Catch-Up Fridays was a “well-intentioned” program weighed down by the “lack of specifics” on its implementation.

“We are seeking to improve implementation of these programs and not limiting remediation to Fridays alone and spreading more reading and basic math programs throughout the different school days,” Angara told the Inquirer.

The DepEd, he said, will emphasize improving foundational skills and ensuring the “right” grade levels will benefit the most from the programs.

(2025/02/05-05:35)