DepEd Launches Stronger Literacy Reforms After 18 Million High School Graduates Found ‘Functionally Illiterate’

The Department of Education (DepEd) has vowed to intensify nationwide literacy reforms following alarming results from the latest Functional Literacy, Education, and Mass Media Survey (FLEMMS), which revealed that 18.9 million Filipino high school graduates are considered functionally illiterate.

DepEd Secretary Sonny Angara assured the public that the department will not allow any student to be left behind in reading and comprehension. “Hindi namin hahayaang may batang nahuhuli sa pagbasa at pag-unawa,” Angara said, emphasizing that literacy remains at the heart of the agency’s education reform agenda.

According to data presented by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), the 2024 FLEMMS adopted a stricter definition of functional literacy — one that measures not only reading, writing, and numeracy but also comprehension and the ability to apply information in daily life. Under this updated measure, the number of functionally literate Filipinos dropped from 79 million to 60 million, leaving nearly one in five graduates unable to understand or process simple texts.

Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, who chaired the Senate Committee on Basic Education hearing on the results, called the findings a “serious education crisis.” He questioned how students could graduate high school without meeting basic literacy standards, stressing that “they can read and write, but they cannot comprehend.”

DepEd, in response, announced that it has strengthened remedial and literacy programs nationwide and introduced data-driven learning interventions to identify and support struggling students. Teachers are now being trained to use local data to design targeted lessons, ensuring that learners receive personalized help in reading and comprehension.

“Kaya’t lalo naming pinatindi ang mga intervention—mula sa remedial at literacy programs, hanggang sa mas epektibong paggamit ng datos sa bawat paaralan,” Angara said. The agency also plans to move away from rote memorization and focus instead on cultivating critical thinking and 21st-century skills.

Education advocates, including ACT Teachers Partylist Rep. France Castro and former lawmaker Antonio Tinio, called the results a wake-up call and urged greater investment in public education, describing the situation as a “national emergency” caused by decades of systemic underfunding.

At Capacité Development Center Philippines, we see this as a defining moment for the nation’s education system. The FLEMMS results reaffirm what many educators have long recognized — literacy today must go beyond the ability to read and write; it must empower students to think critically, communicate effectively, and connect meaningfully.

Our mission at Capacité is deeply aligned with this goal. We provide English and communication training that equips learners not just with language proficiency, but with the confidence and comprehension skills needed to succeed in higher education, the workplace, and everyday life.

We believe that tackling the literacy gap requires more than policy — it demands community, consistency, and care in how we teach. By building strong communication foundations, we can help turn this education crisis into an opportunity for national renewal — one learner, one classroom, and one voice at a time.