According to data presented during a Senate hearing on Wednesday, April 30, 2025, a staggering 18.96 million Filipino students who completed junior and senior high school in 2024 are unable to read and comprehend a simple story. INQUIRER.net stock images

MANILA, Philippines — Nearly 19 million Filipino students who completed junior and senior high school in 2024 are unable to read and comprehend even a basic story, according to alarming data revealed during a Senate hearing on Wednesday.

The figures, presented by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), drew concern from Senate education panel chair Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, who presided over the session.

The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) defines functional literacy as the ability to read, write, compute, and comprehend information.

Senator Sherwin Gatchalian expressed deep concern over PSA data showing that 18 million students who graduated from junior and senior high school in 2024 failed to meet this standard.

Gatchalian said, “If you look at the 2024 figure, there are 18 million students who the PSA detected that 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”.

The senator emphasized that such a situation is unacceptable, stressing that the “basic goal” of education is to ensure students achieve functional literacy.

He further stated, ““That’s non-negotiable that a student who will graduate from our basic education system should be functionally literate — that’s not the case now”.

The hearing also revealed that approximately 24.8 million Filipinos struggle to comprehend even a basic narrative.

Gatchalian said, “This is the gravity of our situation right now”.

Assistant National Statistician Adrian Cerezo revealed that as of 2024, only 79 percent of senior high school graduates across the country meet the standard for functional literacy.

“That’s not in your presentation; you have detected that 21 percent of our senior high school graduates are not functionally literate. That’s quite concerning — that means one 1 out of 5 of our graduates cannot comprehend a single story. That’s something that we need to address,” said Gatchalian.

Meanwhile, when it comes to illiteracy rates, several provinces stand out with alarmingly high numbers.

Tawi-Tawi tops the list, with 67 percent of its population unable to read and write, followed by Davao Occidental at 53 percent. Other provinces with high illiteracy rates include Zamboanga del Sur (49%), Northern Samar and Basilan (both at 48%), Sarangani (48%), Western Samar (46%), Agusan del Norte (44%), Sultan Kudarat (44%), and Lanao del Norte (44%).

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18.9M Filipino graduates in 2024 found to be functionally illiterate