Teachers call on DepEd to restore ‘No Read, No Move Policy’
In the wake of the report from the Philippine Statistics Authority that there are 18.9 million high school graduates who are functionally illiterate, Education Secretary Juan Edgardo Angara issued a statement declaring that the Department of Education (DepEd) will not allow any child to be left behind in reading and comprehension skills. In a later statement, Angara said the agency has no policy sanctioning mass promotion but acknowledged the need to reform its practices and the system of incentives to avoid the mass promotion practice.
Seizing on the promises of Angara, at least 50 teachers who reacted when the statements were posted on his Facebook page and that of the DepEd, pleaded for the restoration of the “No Read, No Move Policy.” It was clear that the teachers were referring to the traditional “No Read, No Move Policy” as some of them used the verb “ibalik,” meaning return or restore in English. The word is inappropriate in the case of DepEd Order No. 45, s. 2002, the DepEd’s “No Read, No Move Policy” because as shown in the letter to the editor (see “DepEd Order No. 45: The acid test of Angara’s intent to stop mass promotion,” 5/16/2025), the agency has not enforced the policy.
Also, some of the teachers who asked Angara for the enforcement of the “No Read, No Move Policy” specified in their comments that the policy should be applied to Grade 1 learners. Others said the policy was still in place when they started teaching in Grade 1 in the ‘90s.
The “No Read, No Move Policy” calls for its implementation in Grade 1, while DO 45, s. 2002 prescribes it in Grade 3.
The clamor from the teachers is an indication that DepEd does not require the ability to read for the promotion of learners to any grade. This explains the prevalence of reading laggards at elementary and secondary levels. There was a time when Filipino schoolchildren learned to read in Grade 1 because of the strict implementation of the “No Read, No Pass Policy.” Many teachers believe that the best chance for public schoolchildren to learn to read at the prescribed time is to secure the students and their parents’ full cooperation in the endeavor—through the threat of having to repeat the grade in case of failure to do so. They also believe that the policy is the most effective way to reverse the illiteracy epidemic unleashed by mass promotion in public schools.
Many teachers said the policy would force lazy and irresponsible pupils to take their education seriously.
However, teachers may be in for a heartbreak. After the DepEd stubbornly refused to implement DO 45, s. 2002, it would be naive to expect the agency to suddenly enforce the policy that sets the deadline for teaching reading in Grade 1, or two grade levels earlier.
Teachers should just ask Congress to pass a law institutionalizing the traditional “No Read, No Move Policy” so that the DepEd will be left with no choice but to enforce it.
Estanislao C. Albano Jr.,
