The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) continues to support the learning process of young learners across the country by strengthening ties between social welfare and education-centric programs of the government, an agency official said on Thursday (June 19).
Assistant Secretary Irene Dumlao, who is also the DSWD’s spokesperson, said the constant challenge to uphold quality education is a shared responsibility of everyone in the government.
“As always stressed by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., the government must not work in a silo. Dapat laging ‘as one’. Tayo sa DSWD, we are known for our social welfare
programs and our mandate in addressing poverty. But isa talaga sa lagi nating pinu-push in ending intergenerational poverty is the need to focus on children’s access to education,” Asst. Secretary Dumlao explained.
The Tara, Basa! Tutoring Program (TBTP), according to the DSWD spokesperson, is among the most recent innovations in the agency.
Launched in 2023, the TBTP is the reformatted educational assistance of the Department.
The DSWD’s TBTB is in partnership with the Department of Education (DepEd) and aims at addressing the learning gaps among elementary learners in public schools.
For School Year 2025-2026, a total of 138,407 individuals composed of college students, incoming Grade 2 learners, and their parents or guardians are expected to benefit from the tutoring program.
“Basically, the program engages college students from low-income backgrounds. We train them to become youth development workers and tutors. Yung mga tutors namin, they conduct tutoring sessions to enhance the literacy skills of grade school learners who are either struggling or non-readers. Our YDWs, on the other hand facilitate Nanay-Tatay teacher sessions for the parents of these students,” Asst. Secretary Dumlao said.
YDWs engage parents in Nanay-Tatay sessions that aim to expound on their role in ensuring that the progress their children make with tutoring sessions are sustained at home.
Asst. Secretary Dumlao said the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4ps), the DSWD’s flagship poverty-alleviation program, puts a premium on keeping children in school, particularly those belonging to poor households as defined by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
“Yung mga grants na nakukuha ng mga households natin, these are really intended for the health and education needs of the children. Kaya nga ang key conditionalities natin for
them to continue being eligible for cash grants ay dapat tuloy-tuloy yung pag-aaral ng 4Ps monitored children natin,” Asst. Secretary Dumlao pointed out.
The DSWD spokesperson also emphasized that helping children break away from the perils of malnutrition and stunting is a critical priority of the Department so they can focus on learning.
“Poverty can affect someone’s life in so many ways. When children cannot eat properly, they are low in energy. Several studies over the years have shown this can hinder their focus on schooling and lead to adverse effects on their academic performance,” Assistant
Secretary Dumlao explained.
The DSWD implements the Supplementary Feeding Program (SFP) which provides nutritious snacks and hot meals to augment the regular meals of children aged 2 to 4 years who are enrolled in supervised neighborhood play (SNP), and children aged 3 to 5 years enrolled in child development centers (CDCs).
For the year 2025, the Marcos administration pushed for its budget increase, which is expected to benefit 1.5 million children for the School Year 2025-2026.
Another program of the DSWD that feeds children is the BangUn Project, which aims to address the high incidence of hunger and malnutrition among children in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).
Asst. Secretary Dumlao said the BangUn Project also provides health support to pregnant and nursing women.
“For BangUn, we have recorded a total of 22,000 beneficiaries last 2024. Of these, 18,700 are 0 to 12-year-old children and 3,300 are pregnant and lactating women,” the DSWD spokesperson said.
The Marcos administration also recently intensified its fight against hunger in the Philippines through the Walang Gutom Program (WGP), with DSWD taking the lead in this flagship project.
Presently, the WGP is serving 300,000 families who are considered food-poor or those with monthly income not exceeding Php9,000.
Under the WGP, the beneficiaries receive their monthly food credits through their Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) cards and purchase food items through accredited stores, retailers, and Kadiwa ng Pangulo outlets.
Beyond addressing hunger, the program is also designed to promote healthy eating habits to better support the nutritional needs of Filipino families, including children.
“Rest assured that we always see social issues from a bird’s eye view, hence, everyone in the government is working together to ensure that our children are supported with comprehensive services and programs. In this way, we can really ascertain that they are not only given support to thrive, but lead a better future,” Asst. Secretary Dumlao said. (LSJ)