Public School Teachers Serving as ARAL Tutors to Receive Overload Pay and Service Credits

The Department of Education (DepEd) has announced that public school teachers who serve as tutors under the Academic Recovery and Accessible Learning (ARAL) Program may receive teaching overload pay or Vacation Service Credits (VSCs) as part of expanded support for educators.

According to DepEd, tutorial sessions conducted under the ARAL Program will be treated as remediation classes and counted as part of teachers' official workload. Teachers who render tutorial services beyond the prescribed six-hour classroom teaching load on weekdays may qualify for overload pay, while those serving during weekends, holidays, or long vacation periods may earn VSCs, with one hour of service equivalent to 1.5 hours of credit.

Education Secretary Sonny Angara emphasized that learning recovery efforts should not come at the expense of teachers' welfare.

"Prayoridad natin na pagsabayin ang mabilis na learning recovery at ang sapat na suporta para sa ating mga guro."

He also assured educators that the expansion of the ARAL Program would not overburden them, adding that teachers' workloads would remain within prescribed limits and that they would be properly compensated for additional services rendered.

DepEd said safeguards are in place to ensure that teachers do not exceed the allowable two-hour daily teaching overload limit. The agency is also accelerating the release of ARAL funds, with nearly ₱2 billion allocated this year to strengthen tutor support and program implementation.

The ARAL Program, which aims to address learning gaps in Reading, Science, and Mathematics, has a total budget of ₱8.94 billion for Fiscal Year 2026. An online application platform for tutors, including qualified external professionals, is also expected to be launched this month.