DepEd seeks to end mass promotion in schools

Through the recommendations of the Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM II) in its National Education Plan, the Department of Education (DepEd) vows to review and halt its grade transmutation matrix and other policies that affect the promotion of unqualified students.

In EDCOM II’s final report, it was noted that the culture of “mass promotion,” despite some students not meeting the qualifications to advance to the next grade level, is evidently seen in public schools. 

Education Secretary Sonny Angara acknowledges this and guarantees the ‘gradual’ phase-out of the policies.

“That is what we will gradually stop because while it’s good that the teacher sympathizes with the student, we are just postponing the problem further,” Angara said.

Moreover, Angara pledged on the full operations of the Academic Recovery and Accessible Learning (ARAL) Program, designed to give free tutorials in reading, mathematics, and science for struggling students from kindergarten to Grade 10.

“Under the law, the teacher will assess and teach the student, and then the grade will have to be accurate,” the education secretary explained.

Mass Promotion in Public Schools

With DepEd’s current grade transmutation matrix, students with grades of 60 can have a final passing grade of 75, which led to the mass promotion of learners.

In response to EDCOM II’s findings, Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) chair Ruby Bernardo stressed that the mass promotion of students is a product of “structural failures,” not merely a compliance and standard issue.

“Sa kasalukuyang sistema, ang pagbagsak ng isang estudyante ay nangangahulugan ng dagdag na trabahong lampas na sa kayang pasanin ng isang guro—kabilang ang home visits, pakikipag-usap sa mga magulang, remedial classes, at mabigat na dokumentasyon. Kapag dumarami ang bumabagsak, nagiging usapin ito ng imahe ng paaralan at mga insentibong nakatali sa performance, kaya ang sistema mismo ang nagtutulak sa pagpapasa ng mga estudyanteng hindi pa handa. Kumbaga, resulta ito ng isang sistema ng edukasyon na salat sa guro, pasilidad, learning materials, at sapat na pondo,” Bernardo said.

Likewise, EDCOM II discovered that promotion and dropout rates are linked to schools and teachers’ performance evaluations, leading them to feel “immense pressure to pass unqualified students.” 

With this, the commission recommended the adjustment of the Results-Based Performance Management System and the Office Performance Commitment and Review Form, and basing the performance on “truthful documentation of students’ learning gaps and subsequent efforts” to address these gaps.

ARAL Program

With the pilot implementation of the ARAL program, DepEd had already seen significant improvements in the reading performance of students based on the department’s Middle of School Year (MoSY) assessment.

Through the numbers, an average of five points has been seen to improve in the reading readiness among grade 3-6 learners, while six to nine points for grades 7-10, totaling 3.42 million and 1.72 million learners, respectively.  

However, ACT voiced its concerns in this full-scale implementation, citing the lack of clear funding, sufficient manpower, and adequate support.

“Ang tanong ay hindi kung bakit pumapasa ang mga bata, kundi kung bakit patuloy silang pinag-aaral sa mga kondisyong hindi talaga makapagbibigay ng makabuluhang pagkatuto,” Bernardo said.

The government has allocated P8.93 billion for the full implementation of the program in 2026.