Education Philippines Project #56039

Help Struggling Filipino Kids Read

by Save the Children Philippines

Project Report | Jul 26, 2026
Donor Update: Anisa's Journey to Reading Success

By Riel Andaluz | Partnerships and Philanthropy Lead

With thanks to your support which we have combined with our other donors', our Catch-up Club continues to reach more children in Mindanao! We are pleased to also share that we have added more schools and started this program in Quezon City. We have trained additonal school personnel and Catch-up Club facilitators. We have also initiated co-designing sessions with children, parents, facilitators, the local government units and the Department of Education to get their feedback and work on further improving how we implement this program.

One of the beneficiaries of the program is 11-year-old Anisa, a Grade 5 learner from a remote Indigenous Peoples community in Sarangani Province. She has made remarkable progress in her reading skills through Save the Children’s Catch-up Clubs (CuCs).

When Anisa first joined the program, she struggled to recognize letters and read simple words. Despite living with a physical disability that requires her parents and classmates to carry her to school each day, she never let challenges keep her from learning.

Through the play-based reading activities in CuCs, Anisa quickly developed confidence and a love for reading. In less than three months, she progressed from barely knowing her letters to reading stories with comprehension—a four-level improvement. She was also the only learner in her batch to graduate after just one cycle of the program.

Today, English and Filipino are her favorite subjects, and she dreams of becoming a teacher so she can help other children learn through fun and play, just as she did.

Anisa’s story is a powerful reminder that with the right support, every child can overcome barriers and reach their full potential. Thank you for making stories like hers possible.

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Mar 24, 2026
Catch-Up Club Success Story

By Riel Andaluz | Sr. Manager for Corporate Partnerships

On behalf of Save the Children Philippines, we are pleased to share one of the inspiring success stories made possible through your generous support.

Rex (real name has been changed for privacy), 11, is the eldest of three siblings living in a small coastal community in Maasim, Sarangani Province. To help his family earn enough for their daily meals, he joins his father to fish on Saturdays and sometimes even on school days, selling their catch by the port until they have enough to buy rice. Because of these responsibilities, Rex often missed classes and began to struggle with basic reading skills, including recognizing letter sounds.

Despite these challenges, Rex’s eagerness to learn never wavered. His turning point came when he joined Save the Children Philippines’ Catch-up Clubs—a play-based remedial reading program designed to help children regain foundational literacy skills in a fun, supportive environment.

Today, Rex can read and understand stories with confidence. He enjoys learning through play, discovering new books, and making friends along the way. "I want to be an engineer when I grow up so I can build houses" Rex said.

His progress gives Rex more courage to dream. His story is a testament to what children can achieve when given the right support and opportunities.

Rex’s journey is just one of the hundreds of stories emerging from the Catch-up Clubs—each one a reminder that every child has the potential to learn, thrive, and succeed.

Thank you for choosing to donate to Save the Children Philippines. With your continued support, we can continue to reach even more children like Rex, helping them build brighter futures through education, protection, and sustained opportunities to learn.

Links:

Learn more about Save the Children Philippines

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Dec 5, 2025
3,000 Learners Reached with Catch Up Club

By Riel Andaluz | Sr. Manager for Corporate Partnerships

The Catch-up Clubs (CuC) is a play-based remedial reading program for Grades 4-6 learners who are non-readers or significantly behind in reading. The approach combines Teaching at the Right Level (TaRL), play, social-emotional learning (SEL), and inclusive education strategies to close the learning gap in reading—a foundational skill for future learning. Utilizing such an approach is essential as these children find difficulty in catching up with the competencies they are expected to achieve in their grade levels. Through the CuCs, they are given the opportunity and the avenue to catch up with the learning gap or learning loss, starting with improving their reading level that is essential in tackling the different lessons and competencies in school.

The program goes beyond learning by linking children and their families to essential social services such as recognizing that various factors act as barriers to education. CuCs strives to address these obstacles head-on. The Child Protection component of the CuCs makes this model holistic. Through this component, CuCs link children to social services through tapping the existing Reporting and Referral Mechanism at the community level. Additionally, the CuCs also has a parenting component which organizes parents whose children are enrolled in the CuCs. Check-in sessions are conducted for parents to promote parental/caregiver support in the learning of children, as well as promoting a nurturing learning environment at home where children are given the safe space to learn.

REACH AND RESULTS

The endline results achieved by the participants in the CuCs showed that approximately 76% of learnersadvancing to a higher reading level compared to their initial reading assessment just after one cycle, equivalent to 52.5 average hours of CuC sessions. Learners who did not make significant progress during one cycle of the CuCs were likely hindered by possible causes such as their disability status, learning barriers, spoken languages, and absenteeism. The result also showed that learners who were enrolled in the CuCs improved significantly faster as compared to those not enrolled.

SEL outcomes showed positive gains across all domains.

Children reported measurable improvements in empathy, perseverance, emotional regulation, and confidence; with the largest gain seen in empathy (+12.8 percentage points). Girls recorded stronger gains in empathy and stress management, while boys showed progress in social interaction. Facilitators credited these improvements to embedded SEL strategies like group games, storytelling, and creating emotionally safe learning spaces.

Literacy and SEL outcomes varied by age, sex, and context.

Girls were more likely to reach higher literacy levels than boys, and older learners made stronger SEL gains, particularly in emotional regulation. Children from IP, Muslim, and low-income households faced additional barriers, including language mismatch and inconsistent support at home. Despite this, some learners still progressed when sessions were consistent and culturally inclusive.

Cycle 2 of the Catch Up Clubs (CuC) concluded in October 2025. This cycle has enrolled 120 children across 10 schools in Maasim, Sarangani Province.

To date, CuC has already reached 3,000 learners across 105 schools in the divisions of Sarangani and General Santos City.

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