The Senate Finance Committee approved the Department of Education’s fiscal year 2027 budget on October 16, 2026, with the agency and its attached agencies allocated P969.79 billion under the General Appropriations Bill. During the hearing, lawmakers discussed the Academic Recovery and Accessible Learning Program, for which the agency requested an additional P15.63 billion.
Lawmakers pressed education officials during a budget briefing over why the Academic Recovery and Accessible Learning Program received no standalone allocation in the National Expenditure Program for fiscal year 2027. The remediation initiative had previously secured Php 8.9 billion under the FY 2026 General Appropriations Act, scaling up from an allocation of approximately Php 4 billion in the FY 2026 National Expenditure Program.
Despite data showing measurable gains in student literacy, the new spending plan omitted a dedicated line item for the remediation effort. Department of Budget and Management Director Vivien Labastilla explained during the proceedings that the program still possesses funds under textbook and other instructional materials through attribution rather than a standalone budget line.
Literacy Gains and Remediation Shortfalls
Supporters of the remediation effort pointed to significant educational gains achieved during its first year of implementation. According to figures presented by Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian, the initiative successfully moved 1.37 million learners from Grades 1 to 10 out of the struggling reader category, while an estimated 730,000 additional students reached grade-level reading proficiency.
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Despite these improvements, extensive learning gaps remain across public and private institutions. Data from the Second Congressional Commission on Education indicated that 65% of students in Grades 1 through 10 remained in the two lowest reading categories at the start of the 2026–2027 school year, with only 22% assessed as ready for their grade level. Senior high school students face similar hurdles; a March 2026 pilot assessment covering roughly 1.4 million Grade 11 learners found that 87% were non-independent readers.
It’s delivering what it intends to deliver, which is to teach our children how to read, how to count. But this year na-zero yung budget ng ARAL, which is shocking. Kung ano pa yung gumagawa, ‘yun pa yung nawala.
Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian, via GMA Network
Senator Joel Villanueva criticized the zero-funding decision during the hearing, noting the massive scale of student support required.
When I found out that it was zero, the first word that came out in my mind was ‘stupid.’ Stupid talaga. I really can’t comprehend bakit ginawa yon. Tapos ngayon dinagdagan P325 million [and] you’re looking at P13 million needing remediation.
Senator Joel Villanueva, via GMA Network
Funding Requests and Tutor Deficits
Department of Education Secretary Sonny Angara told lawmakers that the agency’s formal funding request for the program reached approximately Php 15.9 billion, though implementers identified about Php 8 billion as the minimum required threshold to sustain ongoing gains. Angara acknowledged that the department regards the initiative as a potential game-changer for addressing systemic educational deficits.
Calculations from the Second Congressional Commission on Education show that roughly 13.1 million learners across Grades 1 through 12 may need remediation. Meeting that demand under an assumed ratio of one tutor for every 15 students requires approximately 873,362 tutors, creating a projected personnel shortfall of 234,774 tutors against the estimated available pool.
Budget Allocations under the General Appropriations Bill
The Senate Finance Committee approved the broader Department of Education budget subject to document submissions, with P967.23 billion earmarked for the department and around P2.561 billion for its attached agencies. That figure represents a P6.17 billion decrease from the 2027 National Expenditures Program.
To prevent future confusion over remediation resources, lawmakers pressed for structural budgetary reforms. Second Congressional Commission on Education Co-Chairperson Bam Aquino, who chaired the hearing, joined Gatchalian in pushing for a dedicated line item to guarantee transparency and remove the necessity of carving out funds from unrelated accounts.