RC Marikina East Recognized as SDO Marikina Division Partner
On August 7, 2026, the Rotary Club of Marikina East stood among the education community’s committed partners at the 2026 Stakeholders Convergence – “Soirée with Partners,” held at the Leodegario Victorino Elementary School Cultural Building.
The gathering, anchored on the theme “One Vision, Shared Commitment: Building Resilience and Promoting Success for Every Learner,” celebrated organizations and individuals whose partnership helps create stronger opportunities for Filipino learners.
Representing RC Marikina East were Past President and Councilor Joseph “Jojo” Banzon, Past President Rachelle Enriquez, Rotary District 3800 Basic Education and Literacy Chair for RY 2025–2026; Past President Rhyme Enriquez, Rotary District 3800 Peace Building and Conflict Prevention Vice Chair for RY 2025–2026; High Impact President Kate Felix; Immediate Past President Abby Espinas and Past President Jeffrey Trinidad.
One of the evening’s most meaningful moments was the recognition of the Rotary Club of Marikina East as an SDO Marikina Division Partner for its support of the DepEd Academic Recovery and Accessible Learning (ARAL) Program.
A National Learning Recovery Mission
The Academic Recovery and Accessible Learning (ARAL) Program, established under Republic Act No. 12028, was designed to provide targeted tutorial and learning interventions for students who need additional support in foundational skills. For School Year 2025–2026, the program initially prioritized ARAL Reading, particularly learners identified as needing support in reading, with Mathematics and Science components to be expanded in subsequent phases.
The scale of the challenge was enormous.
At the beginning of SY 2025–2026, DepEd identified approximately 6.7 million learners as beneficiaries of ARAL-Reading, supported by more than 447,000 tutors and 45,000 school heads nationwide.
To measure learning progress, DepEd used established assessment tools and systems, including the Comprehensive Rapid Literacy Assessment (CRLA), Rapid Math Assessment (RMA), and Philippine Informal Reading Inventory (Phil-IRI). These assessments provided baseline and end-of-year evidence of learners' literacy and numeracy levels and helped identify learners who required targeted intervention.
The national results for SY 2025–2026 were significant. DepEd reported that approximately 4.5 million learners who began the school year as struggling readers improved their reading proficiency by the end of the school year. The number of struggling readers nationwide declined from approximately 6.7 million to 2.2 million, while the number of grade-level-ready readers increased from 3.3 million to 5.8 million.
The improvements extended across grade levels. DepEd reported a 33-percentage-point decrease in struggling readers in Key Stage 1 (Grades 1–3), a 16-percentage-point decrease in Key Stage 2 (Grades 4–6), and a 28-percentage-point decrease in Key Stage 3 (Grades 7–10).
These results provide an important national backdrop to the story unfolding in Marikina: learning recovery can produce measurable gains when assessment, targeted intervention, tutors, teachers, and community support work together.
Marikina Shows What Partnership Can Do
Marikina has become one of the notable examples of ARAL's potential.
The national ARAL assessment results also highlighted individual schools where substantial progress was recorded. In Grades 1–3, or Key Stage 1, Malanday Elementary School in Marikina City emerged among the leading schools in improvement.
The percentage of learners classified as Developing, Transitioning, and Grade-Level Ready increased from 57.26% at the beginning of SY 2025–2026 to 94.03% by the middle of the school year—a remarkable 36.77-percentage-point improvement.
This placed Malanday Elementary among the most improved schools identified in the national ARAL assessment.
This achievement carries an even more meaningful connection for the Rotary Club of Marikina East.
Malanday Elementary School is one of the beneficiary schools of the Nutri-ARAL Project, supported by the Rotary Club of Marikina East together with the Rotary Club of Marikina as part of the broader Rotary Clubs of Zone 4 partnership with the Schools Division Office of Marikina.
Through the project, ARAL learners and tutors in beneficiary schools received light snacks during tutorial sessions, providing practical nourishment while learners worked to strengthen their academic competencies.
While the Nutri-ARAL Project cannot be presented as the sole cause of the school's learning gains, its presence reflects the kind of whole-community support that strengthens learning recovery efforts—ensuring that learners receive not only academic intervention, but also encouragement and care during the process.
The story of Malanday Elementary therefore offers a powerful illustration of what partnership can mean in education: assessment identifies the need, teachers and tutors provide the intervention, schools create the learning environment, and community partners help provide additional support that enables learners to stay engaged.
The result demonstrates an important truth: learners can catch up when the right support reaches them at the right time.
But learning recovery in Marikina extends beyond the elementary level.
The participation of schools such as Malanday National High School and Marikina High School reflects the importance of continuing targeted learning interventions as students progress into secondary education. Learning gaps that are not addressed early can follow students into higher grade levels, making sustained support essential.
Nationally, DepEd reported that Key Stage 3 learners in Grades 7–10 also showed meaningful gains, with a 28-percentage-point reduction in struggling readers during SY 2025–2026.
This is where partnership becomes especially important.
Led by Rotary International District 3800 Basic Education and Literacy Chair, Past President Mary Rachelle Enriquez, the Rotary Clubs of Zone 4 proudly supported the DepEd ARAL Program in partnership with the Schools Division Office of Marikina, in alignment with Rotary's Basic Education and Literacy Area of Focus.
The collaboration sought to do more than provide resources. It recognized that helping a learner succeed requires attention to the whole learning experience—including the practical needs that can affect a child's ability to participate and concentrate.
Through the Nutri-ARAL Project, the Rotary Clubs of Marikina East, Marikina, Marikina Hilltop, Rivercity Marikina, and Marikina Heights came together to support ARAL beneficiaries. Successfully piloted in December 2025, the initiative benefited 20 schools across elementary, junior high school, and senior high school levels in Marikina.
The project provided light snacks to ARAL learners and tutors during tutorial sessions, offering simple but meaningful support to children who remained in school beyond their regular classes and to the tutors who dedicated additional time to their learning recovery.
The initiative demonstrated what can happen when government and community organizations work together around a shared purpose: empowering young minds through collaboration and care.
Because Learning Cannot Happen on an Empty Stomach
Behind every ARAL session is a practical reality that is sometimes overlooked.
Many remediation sessions take place after regular class hours, requiring learners and tutors to stay longer at school. For some children, this can mean attending an additional learning session without having had a meal or snack.
While DepEd's ARAL framework provides support for program implementation, training, learning resources, and tutors, food assistance is an area where community and private-sector partners can make a meaningful difference.
This is why the Nutri-ARAL Project matters.
A snack may seem small. But for a child staying after class to learn, it can mean energy, comfort, encouragement—and a reminder that someone believes their education matters.
For tutors, it can likewise be a simple expression of appreciation for the time and effort they give to help learners recover lost ground.
The project illustrates a broader lesson: effective learning recovery is not achieved by schools alone. It becomes stronger when educators, government, civic organizations, families, and communities contribute what they can.
More Than an Award
For RC Marikina East, the recognition at the SDO Marikina Stakeholders Convergence is not simply a plaque or a moment of appreciation.
It represents a shared commitment to Basic Education and Literacy, one of Rotary's key Areas of Focus.
It also reflects the growing partnership between the Rotary Club of Marikina East and the Schools Division Office of Marikina City—a partnership built on a simple but powerful belief:
Every learner deserves the opportunity to catch up, move forward, and dream bigger.
The club extends its heartfelt gratitude to Schools Division Superintendent Dr. Alejandro G. Ibañez, the officers and personnel of DepEd Marikina City, and the entire SDO Marikina family for recognizing the club's contribution and for opening doors for deeper collaboration.
The Nutri-ARAL Project likewise demonstrates the power of Rotary clubs working together. By bringing together the five Rotary Clubs of Zone 4, the initiative transformed individual contributions into a collective effort that reached 20 schools across multiple educational levels.
As ARAL continues to reach learners who need additional support, RC Marikina East looks forward to standing beside teachers, tutors, schools, families, and communities—not only with resources, but with presence, compassion, and action.
Because when a child is given another chance to learn, the entire community moves forward.
And when organizations choose to work together, that second chance can reach farther, touch more lives, and create a lasting impact.
Standing together for every learner, the Rotary Club of Marikina East RI District 3800 continues to Unite for Good and Create Lasting Impact.
Written by: Past President Rachelle Enriquez
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