Makati city: President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on Monday reported that more than 348,000 Filipinos have benefitted from the Tara, Basa! Tutoring Program (TBTP), which he hailed as a flagship literacy and youth employment initiative of his administration. Speaking at the program’s National Culminating Activity at the University of Makati, Marcos said the initiative directly addresses reading backlogs in public schools while giving financially challenged college students cash-for-work opportunities.
According to Philippines News Agency, the TBTP is implemented by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) in partnership with the Department of Education, Commission on Higher Education, National Youth Commission, state universities and colleges, local government units, and other agencies. The program deploys college students as tutors for struggling elementary readers and as youth development workers guiding parents in ‘Nanay-Tatay’ sessions. In return, they receive wages equivalent to the regional daily minimum after 20 completed sessions.
Marcos stated that both learners and tutors gain from the arrangement. He highlighted that as tutors, the college students help improve the reading skills of younger students, while also developing their teaching skills and sense of community service. The President, drawing on his own experience as a teacher, described this dynamic as a ‘symbiotic relationship,’ emphasizing that teachers often learn more than the students.
The Chief Executive took the opportunity to honor teachers in time for National Teachers’ Month, acknowledging them as heroes of the Philippine society. He stressed the importance of supporting and recognizing teachers, as the excellence of the youth is in their hands.
The TBTP, launched in 2022 and institutionalized under Executive Order No. 76 in November 2024, is part of the administration’s broader effort to recover pandemic learning losses and build strong foundations in literacy nationwide.