A SENATE basic education committee hearing revealed alarming data from the 2024 Functional Literacy, Education, and Mass Media Survey (FLEMMS): over 18 million junior high school graduates in the Philippines are functionally illiterate.
This means they struggle with comprehension and understanding despite completing their education.
Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, committee chairperson, presented Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) data showing a significant drop in the number of functionally literate individuals from 79 million in 2019 to 60 million in 2024. This change is attributed to a revised definition of “functional literacy” in the 2024 FLEMMS, removing the automatic qualification of high school and junior high school graduates.
The revised 2024 FLEMMS definition of functional literacy focuses solely on the ability to read, write, compute, and comprehend.
This stricter standard exposed a large number of graduates who, while possessing basic literacy skills, lack sufficient comprehension abilities. Senator Gatchalian expressed serious concern about this, questioning how these individuals were able to graduate without achieving functional literacy. He stressed the urgent need for the Department of Education (DepEd) to take proactive measures to address this issue and ensure that all graduates possess the necessary comprehension skills.
Further analysis of the 2024 FLEMMS data revealed that functional illiteracy extends beyond junior high school graduates.
Approximately 21% of senior high school graduates also fall into this category. The highest rates of functional illiteracy were observed in Region IX (41%), with Tawi-Tawi province recording the most concerning figure at 67%.
The data also highlighted a significant number of Filipinos lacking basic literacy skills (5.8 million), with the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) showing the highest rate at 16%.
These findings indicate a critical need for educational reform and targeted interventions to improve literacy and comprehension skills across the Philippines, particularly in regions with the highest rates of illiteracy.
