Since its launch in August 2023, the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s (DSWD) Tara, Basa! Tutoring Program (TBTP) has benefitted a total of 344,998 individuals, including college students from poor households, elementary learners struggling or non-readers, as well as their parents and guardians.

“This figure reflects the DSWD and President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s commitment to ensuring that all sectors, from children, youth, to parents, will not be left behind in development while also providing cash assistance in exchange for the work or tasks they do in the program,” Undersecretary Edu Punay of the DSWD’s Innovations and Program Development Group (IPDG) said in a statement on Monday.

From 2023 to 2025, around 34,981 second- to fourth-year college students from low-income families, enrolled in state universities and colleges (SUCs) and local government–run universities, have been deployed as tutors and youth development workers (YDWs) under the TBTP.

In exchange for rendering tutorial service to elementary students and their parents for 20 days, these tutors and YDWs received cash-for-work (CFW) based on the prevailing regional wage rate.

Punay, who is also the National Program Director of the TBTP, said the Tara, Basa! is being implemented in Ilocos Region, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Mimaropa, Bicol Region, Central Visayas, Eastern Visayas, Zamboanga Peninsula, Northern Mindanao, Soccsksargen, Caraga, the National Capital Region, and the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).

Several innovations and enhancements were also introduced to widen the reach and improve the implementation of the TBTP.

The Tara Basa program has partnered with different institutions, including local government units, the academe, and the development sector to expand the program’s reach.

The TBTP is a reformatted educational assistance initiative of the DSWD that promotes a holistic learning environment by engaging college students to be part of nation-building. (PNA)