1 Mayo 2025 — Isiniwalat ng Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) ang nakakabahalang resulta ng 2024 Functional Literacy, Education, and Mass Media Survey (FLEMMS), kung saan tinatayang higit sa 18 milyong Pilipinong nagtapos ng high school ang itinuturing na “functionally illiterate” — nangangahulugang hirap silang umunawa ng binabasa kahit nakapagtapos ng batayang edukasyon.

Nagpahayag ng matinding pag-aalala si Senador Sherwin Gatchalian, chairperson ng Senate Basic Education Committee, sa isang pagdinig kamakailan.

“If you look at the 2024 figure, there are 18 million students who the PSA detected are senior high school graduates and junior high school graduates, but are not functionally literate. Meaning they graduated from our basic education system, but they cannot read, they cannot understand, and comprehend a simple story,” aniya.

Ayon sa PSA, ang bagong depinisyon ng functional literacy ay hindi na lamang nakasentro sa pagbabasa, pagsusulat, at numeracy, kundi isinasama na rin ang kakayahang umunawa. Bunga nito, mas lumabas ang kakulangan ng sistema sa edukasyon.

“In the old definition… we have 79 million constituents who are considered functional literate. But in the current definition, which you removed high school and junior high school, the number of functional literacy or literate went down to 60 million constituents. So, that’s a difference of about 18.9 million,” paliwanag ni Gatchalian.

Kinumpirma ni PSA Assistant National Statistician Adrian Cerezo ang ulat: “We note that there are actually a significant number who are passing or graduating but are not really functional literate.”

Sa isinagawang survey sa 572,910 indibidwal mula sa 177,656 na kabahayan sa buong bansa, lumabas na 21% ng mga nagtapos sa senior high school ay hindi functionally literate.

Binigyang-diin ni Gatchalian ang pangangailangang tugunan ang isyung ito: “No one should graduate in our basic education system that will not be functional literate… DepEd should already be proactive in making sure that no one will graduate not being functional literate.”

Nangako naman ang Department of Education (DepEd) na magpapatupad ng mga estratehiya upang matugunan ang agwat sa pagitan ng basic at functional literacy.

Ayon kay Rosalina Villaneza, chief ng Bureau of Learning Delivery-Teaching and Learning Division, “Functional literacy is the bridge between education and empowerment. It equips learners to think independently, solve real-world problems, and actively contribute to society.”

Batay sa pinakahuling datos mula sa DepEd, may tinatayang 7,011,942 na mga estudyante sa junior high school na kasalukuyang naka-enroll sa bansa.