DepEd Gains Greater Authority Over Curriculum as New Law Takes Effect, Launches ARAL TutorKo to Strengthen Learning Recovery

 

DepEd Granted Wider Authority to Refine Curriculum as New Education Law Takes Effect

The Philippine basic education system is set to undergo more responsive and evidence-based improvements after a new law expanded the authority of the Department of Education (DepEd) to determine how the national curriculum should be taught. The measure is expected to give education officials greater freedom to adapt teaching approaches based on the changing needs of Filipino learners while ensuring regular assessments of the country's educational framework.

Republic Act No. 12322 officially became law on August 2 after it lapsed without the signature of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The legislation revises key provisions of the Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2013 by granting DepEd broader discretion in selecting and implementing the most appropriate instructional strategies for basic education.

A key feature of the law is the institutionalization of a mandatory curriculum review every five years. Instead of allowing teaching methods to remain unchanged despite evolving educational demands, the law requires DepEd to periodically evaluate whether the curriculum continues to meet national learning objectives and prepares students with relevant knowledge and skills.

The review process will follow a structured curriculum development framework established by DepEd. This systematic approach is intended to ensure that policy decisions are supported by research, classroom experience, and measurable learning outcomes rather than temporary trends.

The measure will become enforceable 15 days after its publication in either the Official Gazette or a newspaper of general circulation.

DepEd Introduces ARAL TutorKo to Modernize Academic Recovery

Alongside the legislative reform, DepEd has also accelerated its academic recovery initiatives through the launch of ARAL TutorKo, a web-based tutoring management platform designed to strengthen support for learners who require additional academic assistance.

Education Secretary Sonny Angara introduced the digital platform as part of the Academic Recovery and Accessible Learning (ARAL) Program. The system centralizes the entire tutoring process, allowing schools and education officials to manage tutor applications, screening, onboarding, deployment, attendance monitoring, lesson scheduling, and session documentation through a single online platform.

The initiative primarily targets students experiencing learning gaps in foundational reading and mathematics. Rather than relying on fragmented manual processes, ARAL TutorKo provides an integrated management system that enables schools to coordinate tutoring services more efficiently while improving accountability across participating institutions.

Beyond administrative convenience, the platform incorporates dashboards and monitoring tools that allow education officials to observe tutoring activities in real time. This enables faster reporting, better coordination among schools, and more informed policy decisions based on actual performance data. Similar to how modern navigation systems continuously update routes using live traffic information, the platform allows DepEd to adjust interventions using current educational data instead of relying solely on end-of-year reports.

The scale of the program underscores the continuing challenge faced by the education sector. During School Year 2025 to 2026, DepEd identified approximately 6.7 million learners who required additional academic support. By the conclusion of the school year, 4.5 million students had demonstrated improved reading proficiency through the assistance of 442,906 tutors deployed nationwide under the ARAL Program.

Taken together, the curriculum reform and the rollout of ARAL TutorKo represent complementary efforts to strengthen Philippine basic education. While the new law provides DepEd with greater flexibility to refine what and how students learn, the digital tutoring platform focuses on ensuring that learners who fall behind receive timely, organized, and measurable academic support.