The Tara, Basa! Tutoring Program (TBTP) of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) received positive feedback from both faculty and students at Leyte Normal University (LNU) during the orientation for its pilot implementation in Tacloban City this year.
Over 200 aspiring tutors and Youth Development Workers (YDWs) participated in the first orientation session held at the LNU Admin Ballroom on Thursday, January 30, 2025.
Ley Marzon Morada, the Regional Program Coordinator of TBTP, led the session, providing an overview of the program, outlining the targets for 2025, and discussing the selection process for student beneficiaries, their roles and responsibilities, and the timeline of activities for the year.
In her address, Dr. Evelyn Aguirre, the University President, emphasized the importance of the program in improving functional and reading literacy among children and out-of-school youth. She encouraged the students to strive for excellence in their roles as tutors and YDWs, stating.
“This is a very important linkage because illiteracy has been a ubiquitous problem ever since time immemorial. You are the ambassadors of Leyte Normal University. So, let us do our best and bring the brand of LNU,”
This year, DSWD plans to expand the program to cover Samar province, as well as the cities of Tacloban and Ormoc in Leyte, with a target of supporting 1,508 college students, 5,040 learners, and 5,040 parents.
The TBTP is an educational assistance program aimed at college students from low-income families. These students will be deployed as tutors and YDWs to provide reading tutorials for struggling or non-reader pupils and to conduct Nanay-Tatay sessions for the parents of these learners.
In exchange for their work, student beneficiaries will receive a daily wage equivalent to the Regional Daily Minimum Wage during the 20-day learning sessions scheduled from May 19 to June 13, 2025.
Aside from LNU, the DSWD has partnered with Eastern Visayas State University and the City College of Ormoc.
In 2024, the DSWD conducted a pilot test of the program in the region, deploying 375 tutors and YDWs from Samar State University and Northwest Samar State University. This initiative served a total of 1,981 learners and 1,977 parents across two cities and 19 municipalities in Samar province.
Photo Courtesy to DSWD Eastern Visayas
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