Kibali, uhang!
Marlon Ramos of the Philippine Daily Inquirer
reported on May 1, 2025: Some 18.9 million Filipinos who completed secondary
education between 2019 and 2024 may be considered “functional illiterate” as
they still have problems with reading comprehension despite years of schooling.
This was according to a periodic study conducted by the Philippine Statistics
Authority (PSA), the results of which were tackled in a Senate hearing on
Wednesday.
The teachers and educators who have poured immense
energy and dedication into helping learners succeed now find themselves
grappling with such disheartening data. It raises painful questions: Have they
been doing something wrong? Are parents providing enough support at home to
reinforce learning? Or is this the outcome of deeper, systemic issues that go
beyond the classroom?
The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) reported
that the attrition rate for college students has more than doubled since the
pandemic, with 41.16% of students who were sophomores during the 2020-2021
school year either dropping out or temporarily leaving school by 2023,
A closer examination of the report from the
Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) and the Functional Literacy, Education
and Mass Media Survey (FLEMMS) reveals that the COVID-19 pandemic played a
significant role in shaping the current educational landscape. The prolonged
school closures in the Philippines—among the longest in the world—deeply
disrupted the learning process for millions of students. The shift to modular
and online learning, though a necessary emergency response, laid bare the stark
inequalities in access to technology, internet connectivity, and parental
support at home.
These disruptions led to substantial learning
losses, especially in critical foundational skills such as reading
comprehension, which are now reflected in the alarming levels of functional
illiteracy among secondary school graduates.
The alarming levels of functional illiteracy
underscore the urgent need for a whole-of-government and whole-of-society
approach to education reform. Solving this issue goes far beyond revising the
curriculum – it requires a comprehensive strategy that mobilizes all sectors to
create an environment where meaningful learning can thrive. Investments must be
made not only in improving teaching quality and updating infrastructure, but
also in supporting the broader ecosystem that affects student learning.
This includes ensuring access to adequate health
and nutrition, strengthening family and community involvement, and addressing
socioeconomic barriers that hinder educational engagement. Only through
coordinated and sustained efforts can the nation begin to close the literacy
gap and ensure that every learner is equipped with the foundational skills
needed for lifelong success.
Placing sole blame on the Department of Education
(DepEd) for the alarming data may be a misplaced judgment, as the department
has been making earnest efforts to implement the curriculum and address
learning challenges, often within limited resources. It is important to
recognize that ensuring quality education is not the responsibility of DepEd
alone. Both local and national government units have a crucial role to play in
supporting early childhood development and foundational
learning—responsibilities that fall squarely within their mandates.
In a recent statement, Education Secretary Sonny
Angara emphasized the Department's renewed commitment to strengthening
foundational learning. “We have intensified our interventions — from literacy
and remedial programs to the strategic use of school-level data. We've also enhanced
our teaching and assessment methods to ensure deeper, more effective learning,”
he shared.
Remember the uproar over the Department of
Education's budget? Instead of receiving the highest allocation as mandated by
the Philippine Constitution, it was controversially slashed.
When leadership underperforms in every corner, it is less a mystery and more a mathematical certainty that mediocrity will flourish elsewhere—people tend to follow the loudest example, even if it is off-key.
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