Reading is the basis for understanding various fields of science. It is important for students’ ability to learn about many things from reading. Improving students' reading comprehension requires appropriate strategies or methods to make them more reliable and relevant because there were still many obstacles in learning English, especially in reading comprehension skills. This qualitative research was to examine whether the Kurikulum Merdeka is used at the schools could improve students' reading comprehension ability, and to look at the strategies used by teachers to improve students' reading comprehension abilities through the Kurikulum Merdeka. The type of research used was qualitative research. This study involved four English teachers at Darul Arafah Islamic Boarding school in Medan, North Sumatra. Data was collected through observation and interview. However, not all students have strategies to understand English texts. The results show that there are three main strategies used, namely discussion strategies, question and answer relationship (QARS), and scaffolding. Discussion strategies, the teachers formed a group with their students to discuss the material. Question and answer relationship (QARS) strategies, the teachers created a questioning and answering session after providing reading material to students. Scaffolding, the teachers provided temporary assistance for students to help them doing assignments. The conclusion shows that the three strategies used by the teacher are effective when applied to the kurikulum Merdeka because their strategies focus on student-centered which is the principle of the Kurikulum Merdeka.