The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has recently started releasing payouts to college tutors and Youth Development Workers (YDW) under the Tara, Basa! Tutoring Program.
The program happens to be the “reformatted” educational assistance of the DSWD. It aims to assist non-readers and grade school learners who are struggling, while at the same time provide educational support for college students who serve as tutors.
Tara, Basa? Program Tutors Receive Payouts
“We have started distributing the first tranche of the cash-for-work (CFW) of our college tutors and YDWs as the opening of classes is also approaching,” according to DSWD Asst. Sec. Irene Dumlao, as cited in a DSWD press release.
“This way, our beneficiaries can use their earnings for their school needs,” the DSWD spokesperson added.
The first to conduct the Tara, Basa! Tutoring Program payouts was DSWD Field Office 7 (Central Visayas), which held the event on Monday, July 15, 2024. A total of 642 tutors and YDWs from Cebu Normal University (CNU) received their payouts.
The payout was led by DSWD Central Visayas Regional Director Shalaine Marie Lucero, together with Cebu City Chairperson of the Committee on Social Services and CNU College of Teachers Education Dean, Dr. Venus Cortes.
Asst. Sec. Dumlao stated that the current payout covers the initial compensation for the first 10 tutoring sessions conducted by the program beneficiaries. Each tutor and YDW received PHP 468 per day for the 3-hour tutorial and parenting sessions held with grade school learners and their parents.
“The rate of the CFW varies per region as it is based on the prevailing regional minimum wage rate,” the DSWD spokesperson explained. “Tutoring sessions started on July 1 simultaneously in the implementing regions.”
The pilot implementation of the Tara, Basa! Tutoring Program was done in the National Capital Region (NCR) in 2023. Today, the program is being implemeted in Regions 3 (Central Luzon), 4-A (CALABARZON), 7 (Central Visayas), 8 (Eastern Visayas), 10 (Northern Mindanao), and 12 (SOCCSKSARGEN).
Meanwhile, in the NCR, a total of 3,257 tutors and YDWs received financial assistance on Saturday, July 13. This assistance would help cover their transportation and food expenses during the 20-day tutoring program, which runs from July 1 to 26, 2024.
As of this writing, the Tara, Basa! Tutoring Program and parenting sessions are being held by tutors and YDWs in different regions of the country. Each session aims to enhance the reading capabilities of grade school learners, as well as to widen the knowledge of parents when it comes to caring for and guiding their children.
Final Thoughts
The Tara, Basa! Tutoring Program is a commendable initiative, indeed. For one thing, it sets to benefit not only the children and their parents, but the tutors (college students) themselves. Moreover, it can help to uplift the reading literacy of Filipino youth.
Other DSWD initiatives that deserve recognition are those that are related to food security and nutrition. Learn more about these programs by reading this article about the 2024 Walang Gutom Awards’ champion programs.