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The education system in our country is feeling the pressure at every stage, from early childhood development all the way to college. Sadly, it’s one of the least supported areas in our public policies.
According to the Philippine Statistics Authority, a staggering 24 million Filipinos aged 10 to 64 are functionally illiterate. Around 5.8 million people can’t read or write at a basic level. By 2024, one in five high school graduates will enter adulthood without essential skills in reading, writing, math, and comprehension.
The World Bank discovered that 91% of 10-year-old Filipino kids have a hard time reading simple texts. Many point to the coronavirus pandemic as a big factor worsening the situation.
Despite these alarming facts, a lot of parents still think children under 5 are “too young” for school. Long distances to child development centers make access tough. Plus, with 40% of parents working away from home, many families depend on relatives or older siblings for childcare.
The Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM 2) mentions that teachers start feeling the impact of these gaps when kids hit Grade 3, where many students are performing one to two grade levels below where they should be.
Unfortunately, learning camps are only reaching 10% of students who need extra help. Just over half of those targeted have managed to complete assessment requirements. Various policies designed to boost reading, math, and science improvement have been sitting in limbo since 2023.
On top of that, lost learning days due to weather, holidays, and other interruptions have wiped out a significant chunk of the school year. In some areas, students have missed over 40 school days! EDCOM 2 links these absences to serious drops in Grade 4 Math and Science performance.
Selective schools such as the Philippine Science High School System have capacity issues. Between 2022 and 2025, more than 5,800 students who aced the entrance exam couldn’t get slots. Private school students passed at higher rates compared to those from public schools, raising concerns about basic learning differences.
The Department of Education (DepEd) has rolled out some reforms under the MATATAG curriculum; however, schools are facing delays. As of January 2025, only 35 of the 90 essential textbooks for Grades 4 and 7 have made it to classrooms.
Program oversight is also a hurdle for students in arts, journalism, languages, sports, science, and technical-vocational subjects. EDCOM 2 reports many schools running these programs without clear guidelines or consistent resources.
On the brighter side, the Alternative Learning System (ALS) was created to help out-of-school youth and adults, but its reach is limited. Out of about 4.9 million out-of-school youth, only around 600,000 join the program, and only half complete it. Funding remains stuck at P7 million per region, regardless of how many people live there. Many community learning centers operate in less-than-ideal spaces, and several policy guidelines under the ALS Act of 2020 are still pending.
College participation stands at nearly 35%, which is below the regional average. The Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) has the lowest participation rates.
The dropout rates in higher education are concerning too, with BARMM facing a staggering 93% attrition rate. Several other regions have dropout rates above 50%.
Although free tuition under Republic Act No. 10931 has helped more families send their kids to college, the increased enrollment is pushing state universities to their limits. Local universities are accepting more students but often with fewer academic programs.
The Tertiary Education Subsidy made adjustments to focus on the poorest students, but cuts in subsidy amounts could limit the courses they can take, especially when options are already scarce.
The Commission on Higher Education only updates program requirements every 11 years. The focus now tends to be on research output, but many schools are smaller in scale. Only a tiny percentage of the population pursues graduate studies, leaving the country’s research activity trailing behind global and regional averages.
Meanwhile, Filipino students ranked among the lowest in the 2022 Programme for International Student Assessment creative thinking test, scoring an average of just 14 points, which places the Philippines in the bottom tier among 64 participating countries.
Facing Resource Shortages
Education spending is stuck at 3.6% of the gross domestic product, falling short of the 4-6% range suggested by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Approximately 5,000 schools lack electricity, and around 10,000 don’t have access to clean water.
As for teacher competency, 66% of teachers employ low to medium-level classroom practices, with no teacher reaching high levels of effective teaching. A World Bank study found that a high school math teacher correctly answered only 31% of questions related to the subject, and about 62% of high school teachers teach subjects outside their area of expertise.
School space issues are a significant problem too. The country is short more than 165,000 classrooms. Urban centers face overcrowding, while many rural schools operate in aging buildings that aren’t suited for harsh weather. Only about 30% of public school facilities are in good shape. To cope with these shortages, schools often have to split students into morning and afternoon shifts.
Decades of Education Reforms
Since 1946, various administrations have made efforts to create more learning opportunities. The 1987 Constitution recognizes every learner’s right to quality education, but issues with funding, teacher development, and school facilities continue to stall progress in classrooms all over the country.
A crucial measure aimed at closing the education gap is the Academic Recovery and Accessible Learning Program Act, or ARAL, which seeks to assist students struggling with reading and basic math.
The Education Department plans to align its recovery programs with ARAL. A draft policy aims to unify the National Reading Program and the National Mathematics Program into a new framework focused on reinforcing literacy and numeracy for higher grade levels.
For early childhood education, the Early Childhood Care and Development Systems Act focuses on enabling local governments to establish offices, hire permanent staff for child development, and enhance facilities. A joint circular between DepEd and the Department of Budget and Management encourages low-income local governments to set up child development centers.
However, national standards for early learning are still being discussed, and participation remains low. Only about 1% of children aged 0 to 2 and 21% of those aged 3 to 4 are enrolled in early learning programs.
The National Learning Recovery Program is the broadest effort so far, reaching over 2.7 million learners across more than 35,000 schools. A separate tutoring initiative, Tara Basa, has supported over 62,000 students across different regions.
Thanks to these initiatives, early assessments are showing positive results. English reading skills improved by 15% among participants, while the number requiring full intervention dropped by 32%. Filipino assessments indicated a 25% rise in grade readiness and a 36% decrease in those needing a complete refresher on the material.
Investment in learning materials has also increased. As of October 2024, more than 7 million pieces of science and math equipment and over 200,000 technical-vocational tools were purchased. The acquisition of more than 49 million textbooks for key subjects such as Science, Social Studies, and Math has also taken place.
Procurement in 2023 and 2024 included over 22 million pieces of science and math equipment and more than 779,000 units of technical-vocational tools. Textbook and learning material deliveries exceeded 58 million items, including assistive laptops for learners with disabilities and more than 55,978 information and communication technology packages for schools nationwide.
“Education is not solely the responsibility of one sector,” said Education Secretary Juan Edgardo “Sonny” M. Angara. “DepEd acts collectively — together with government agencies, local governments, and the entire community — for the future of the youth.” — Mhicole A. Moral
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