ASSESSING THE NATIONAL LEARNING CAMP (NLC) ASAN INTERVENTION FOR NON-READERS

Abstract

Making a country strong and successful depends entirely on students’ literacy and numeracy skills. These are the foundations for having a highly effective human capital pool. In addition to providing individuals with the critical thinking skills required for informed civic engagement and improved societal outcomes, these are crucial for developing a competitive, high-productivity workforce capable of economic innovation and global participation. As a result, strengthening these fundamental disciplines directly accelerates the generation of national wealth and fosters long-term social equality. National Learning Camp (NLC) as one of the initiatives of the Department of Education seeks to reduce the achievement gap among students pre and post pandemic. This study primarily focused on assessing the NLC as a reading intervention program for nonreaders on the areas of participation of learners and teachers, engagement of stakeholders, and strategies used by teachers and utilization of materials. It revealed that NLC, as a mediation program, was successfully implemented and widely endorsed by both parents and teachers, indicating success across all metrics in addition to high student participation and effective teaching. Despite its overall approval, there was a significant difference in how teachers and parents rated the program’s effectiveness, specifically pointing to alignment in expectations and shared feedback systems. It also showcased that NLC can be both an effective remedy for addressing literacy deficits and NLC as a reinforcement for those who already reached near-mastery. The author proposed an enhancement program with targeted activities in order to enhance and stabilize NLCs implementation and ultimately improve student outcomes.