Jauhn Etienne Villaruel

Despite being affected by super typhoon Carina and Habagat, teachers and parents at Bagong Silangan Elementary School in Quezon City clean classroom, paints arm chairs and prepare the classroom on Sunday, July 28, 2024, a day before the first day of School Year 2024-2025 tomorrow July 29. Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News/File

Article (news)

RG Cruz

Victoria Tulad

ABS-CBN News

<div><br/></div><p>MANILA — Department of Education (DepEd) Secretary Sonny Angara on Thursday vowed stronger intervention to curb the decline in functional literacy of Filipino senior high school graduates.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/4/30/over-24-million-filipinos-functionally-illiterate-gatchalian-1753">Over 24 million Filipinos functionally illiterate: Gatchalian</a></div><p>&quot;Hindi namin hahayaang may batang nahuhuli sa pagbasa at pag-unawa. The recent FLEMMS (2024 Functional Literacy, Education, and Mass Media Survey) results on functional literacy highlight what we have long recognized—literacy must be at the heart of our education reforms,&quot; Angara said in a statement.</p><p>In a Senate hearing on Wednesday, Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian said more than 24 million Filipinos aged 10 to 64 are functionally illiterate, while 5.8 million are basically illiterate, citing the initial results of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) 2024 FLEMMS.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/technology/2025/4/29/deped-says-to-use-ai-technology-to-help-learners-with-disabilities-1920">DepEd says to use AI, technology to help learners with disabilities</a></div><p>According to PSA, functional literacy is a higher form of literacy and is defined as the ability to read, write, compute and comprehend. Meanwhile, basic literacy is the ability “to read and write a simple message in any language or dialect with understanding, and to compute or perform basic mathematical operations.”</p><p>The agency mentioned an alarming number of senior high school graduates who are not functionally literate.</p><p>“Only 79 percent of senior high school graduates in the K to 12 curriculum are functionally literate,” PSA Assistant National Statistician Adrian Cerezo said.</p><p>The DepEd chief assured the public that the agency is doing its best to address the situation.</p><p>&quot;Kaya’t lalo naming pinatindi ang mga intervention—mula sa remedial at literacy programs, hanggang sa mas epektibong paggamit ng datos sa bawat paaralan. Nilaliman na rin namin ang teaching at assessment method. Sa halip na memorization, hinuhubog namin ang mga mag-aaral para maging critical thinker at may 21st century skills,&quot; Angara said.</p><p>&quot;Kumikilos ang DepEd para itama ang kahapon at ihanda ang bawat bata para sa mas matibay na kinabukasan. Ensuring that every Filipino learner is functionally literate is a commitment we owe to our constituents,&quot; he added.</p><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO: </strong></div><div><strong><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ClGPZJ6WFsk?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span></strong><br/></div>

<p>The DepEd chief assured the public that the agency is doing its best to address the situation.</p>

The DepEd chief assured the public that the agency is doing its best to address the situation.

DepEd vows to address 'functional illiteracy' among senior high grads

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DepEd vows to address 'functional illiteracy' among senior high grads

RG Cruz,

Victoria Tulad,

ABS-CBN News

Published May 01, 2025 11:23 AM PHT

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