The Department of Education (DepEd) assured the public on Thursday that the government is intensifying educational interventions in schools, following reports that more than 18 million high school graduates from 2019 to 2024 are considered “functionally illiterate.”
DepEd Secretary Sonny Angara said the agency is shifting its focus from rote memorization to fostering critical thinking skills and teaching 21st-century competencies.
“We will not let any child fall behind in reading and comprehension,” Angara said. “The recent FLEMMS results on functional literacy highlight what we have long recognized — literacy must be at the heart of our education reforms.”
He added that the government is improving teaching and assessment methods, as well as strengthening remedial and literacy programs in schools.
Angara emphasized that DepEd will work to ensure every Filipino learner is functionally literate and equipped for the future.
Lawmakers raised concerns on Wednesday over the findings of the 2024 Functional Literacy, Education, and Mass Media Survey (FLEMMS), which revealed that more than 18 million high school graduates over the past five years cannot adequately read or comprehend.
The Philippine Statistics Authority defines a functionally literate person as someone who can read, write, compute, and understand written information.
