RuleWatcher: Making Policy Research Faster, Smarter, and Easier

Author

Dianne Jade Calay (Master in Social Sciences)

Waseda University

Keywords: Summer classes, summer break, holiday, break

Key findings

• Based on the RuleWatcher database, the Philippines mainly uses summer classes for remediation, Thailand emphasizes preparation for higher education, and Vietnam provides career guidance and cultural activities.

Overview

Policies are expected to be evidence-based, cost-effective, and practical, leaving policymakers little room for mistakes because government rules can affect millions of people. My work with the Social Development Staff of the Philippines’ Department of Economy,Development, and Planning, involves reviewing and providing recommendations on policies. These recommendations draw on evidence from reliable data and reputable research. However, peer-reviewed studies on new policies and issues take time. Since urgent social issues require faster solutions, one way we respond is by looking at how other countries, especially within the ASEAN region, design and carry out their policies. 

For example, in 2018 Filipino students joined the programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), which evaluates how well fifteen-year-olds can apply what they learn to real-world problems. The results were concerning: the Philippines ranked last in reading and second to last in science and mathematics among 79 countries and economies (World Bank, 2020). When the country joined again in 2022, there was little or no improvement. Moreover, the  COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated the learning losses. Because of these setbacks, policymakers had to focus on recovery. In 2025, the Department of Education introduced summer programs in reading and mathematics for basic education students.

This raised a broader question: What kinds of programs do other governments offer students during summer breaks or holidays? Research indicates that long breaks can cause students to lose knowledge, a problem often called “summer learning loss” (Cooper et al., 1996; Paechter et al., 2015). To explore this, I required quick access to international policy examples, as . Academic sources take time to review, and search engines often bring up scattered or repetitive results.

RuleWatcher gets the job done!

Sifting through a lot of data and documents is time-intensive hence, having the right tools can make a big difference. RuleWatcher is a web-based database that tracks global policy developments. making them easier to study. Its tools, such as TreeMap and Transition, not only highlight which issues are being discussed worldwide but also track how their importance changes over time. Unlike regular search engines, RuleWatcher consolidates primary policy information in one place. For analysts like me, it provides a faster way to benchmark and find practical solutions from other countries’ experiences.

To identify summer education programs in ASEAN countries, I used RuleWatcher’s search function with the keyword “summer” (1) and set the #THEMES to World Education (2) and ASEAN (3) region. The search yielded 123 results.

I downloaded (4) a dataset of all the reports from RuleWatcher and then analyzed it with the help of generative AI (ChatGPT). This allowed me to quickly go through more than a hundred articles and pull out useful insights.

Based on a search for ‘summer’ in RuleWatcher’s database and subsequent analysis with ChatGPT, the following student summer programs have been implemented since 2019.

Country	Program	Description
Philippines	DepEd English & Math Remediation (2021)	The Department of Education(DepEd) implemented remedial summer classes in English and Mathematics for learners who demonstrated learning gaps, ensuring they attain essential skills before moving to the next grade level.
	DepEd “4 Summer Learning Programs” (2025)	DepEd launched four nationwide summer learning programs to provide catch-up education, remediation, and enrichment activities for students struggling with foundational skills in literacy and numeracy.
Thailand	One District One Scholarship (ODOS) Summer Program (2025)	The Thai government highlighted ODOS, which includes summer study programs and training opportunities for students under scholarship schemes, designed to prepare them for higher education.
Vietnam	Vietnam Summer Camp (2023)	Organized under the Communist Party’s guidance, this summer program brought together Vietnamese students from both abroad and within Vietnam to strengthen cultural identity, patriotism, and youth networking.

I tried to be more specific and searched for “summer learning programs.” However, the search only yielded 19 results, nearly half of which were from the Philippines. This made me realize that while using more specific keywords can narrow down the list of articles that RuleWatcher provides, it may also exclude relevant ones especially those from other countries.

It may also be the case that “summer learning programs” is more of a Philippine policy jargon or policy language,  making exploring alternative terminologies becomes even more important. I tried searching for synonyms of the word “summer” to get an idea of the keywords I can search in RuleWatcher.

I then tried using synonyms, such as “holiday” and “break,” which helped broaden the search. Using similar words seems more effective for generative AI to evaluate, since scanning a wider range of articles is often better than being limited to a few. The list below includes additional programs found this way.

Country	Program	Description
Vietnam	Summer Education Activities (2023)	As part of back-to-school readiness, summer activities were used to orient students for the upcoming  academic year, including remedial classes and cultural programs.
	Youth Peoples’ Public Security Summer Program (2023)	A summer campaign where youth from the public security sector engaged in teaching, mentoring, and community education activities, supporting more than 1,000 children.
	Ha Tinh Youth Summer Initiatives (2023)	Annual summer initiatives that combine formal academic support (e.g., tutoring, exam preparation) with civic education, environmental campaigns, and career guidance for students.

Searching in RuleWatcher revealed that, unlike the Philippines, countries like Thailand and Vietnam offer summer programs that extend beyond remediation. In the Philippines, summer classes mainly help students catch up on what they missed the previous year. In contrast Thailand focuses on preparing students for higher education, while Vietnam adds career guidance and cultural activities.

These programs also include youth mentoring, civic engagement, environmental campaigns, and community service. This demonstrates that summer programs can serve do more than just address learning gaps—they can help students grow, explore new skills, and stay engaged during the break. The Philippines could potentially learn from these approaches to expand its own summer programs beyond remediation.

Findings

Pros

One of the biggest advantages of RuleWatcher is its download CSV feature. Unlike search engines like Google or Bing, which often return multiple articles reporting the same news, RuleWatcher lets you quickly collect primary policy information. Combined with generative AI, this feature makes it much faster to scan hundreds of reports and extract the insights you need, saving time and effort.

Limitations

RuleWatcher has some limitations. Its database only covers policies from 2019 onward, so it is not ideal for historical analysis. If someone is looking for older rules, other sources would be better. Additionally, while RuleWatcher has tag filters, not all relevant keywords appear in the tags. This means multiple searches may be necessary to capture all relevant articles.

Another limitation of RuleWatcher is that the topics you can search for within its database are limited to its sources. I originally wanted to know if summer learning loss is also present or discussed in other Asian countries. However, after I uploaded the CSV list of articles to a generative AI, no articles mentioned summer learning loss.

Suggestions for improvement

Allowing multiple keyword searches at once would make the platform even more powerful. In my case, I had to download three separate CSV files for different search terms. If RuleWatcher could also suggest synonyms or include them automatically, users could download a single file for analysis with generative AI, streamlining the process further.

Overall assessment

RuleWatcher is a useful tool for policymakers and researchers. It allows users to spot global policy trends without sifting through countless repetitive articles, unlike typical search engines. It also helps identify rules and programs with similar themes, providing ideas and inspiration that might not be obvious from local or usual sources

Sources:

Cooper, H., Nye, B., Charlton, K., Lindsay, J., Greathouse, S. (1996). The effects of summer vacation on achievement test scores: A narrative and meta-analytic review. Review of Educational Research, 66(3), 227–268.

OECD. (2019). PISA 2018 country note: Philippines. https://www.oecd.org/content/dam/oecd/en/about/programmes/edu/pisa/publications/national-reports/pisa-2018/featured-country-specific-overviews/PISA2018_CN_PHL.pdf

Paechter, M., Luttenberger, S., Macher, D., Berding, F., Papousek, I., Weiss, E. M., & Fink, A. (2015). The effects of nine-week summer vacation: Losses in mathematics and gains in reading. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 11(6), 1399–1413.

Philippine Congress. (2024). The Philippines' performance in the 2018 and 2021 PISA. Congressional Policy and Budget Research Department. https://cpbrd.congress.gov.ph/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/FF2024-11-Philippines-Perf-in-the-2018-and-2021-PISA.pdf

World Bank. (2020). World Development Report 2020: Trading for development in the age of global value chains. https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/184251593328815913/pdf/Main-Report.pdf