Last Jan. 10, Undersecretary for Curriculum and Teaching Gina Gonong released DepEd’s first memorandum of 2024, outlining the implementation of Catch-Up Fridays.
The memorandum explains that Catch-up Fridays are “a learning mechanism intended to strengthen the foundational, social and other relevant skills necessary to actualize the intent of the basic education curriculum.”Jimenez said they introduced D.E.A.R (Drop Everything and Read) practice as they commenced with the Catch-up Fridays. D.E.A.R involves dedicated reading sessions or related activities aimed at enhancing learners’ reading skills.
“We are actually wanting to develop the habit of reading, so that is Catch-up Fridays. Once the learners are able to read, they already have that habit in reading; wherever they are, they will look for something to read,” Jimenez said.
Based on the DepEd guidelines, Catch-up Fridays will prioritize the National Reading Program in the morning and cover values, health and peace education in the afternoon. The Homeroom Guidance Program will also play a crucial role in this initiative.
DepEd stressed the importance of an “integrative approach to teaching” during Catch-up Fridays. For example, health topics can be integrated into science lessons to provide students with a better understanding of health-related concepts.Moreover, DepEd suggests that themes related to peace education can be included in Technology and Livelihood Education to show students how technology may be used for conflict resolution, communication, and building communities.
In the program, students are not graded; their progress is tracked through self-reflection journals.
According to earlier reports, DepEd’s Bureau of Education Assessment-Education Research Division said the country’s educational system is five to six years behind its foreign peers.
CLICK THE SUBJECT BELOW
