Legarda urges prioritization of foundational learning after 18.9 million graduates found functionally illiterate

Senator Loren Legarda, Commissioner of the Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM II), urged immediate attention to strengthening learners’ foundational competencies following data showing that 18.9 million Filipinos who graduated from the country’s basic education system between 2019 and 2024 are “functionally illiterate.”

This finding was revealed during a public hearing of the Senate Committee on Basic Education, chaired by Senator and EDCOM II Co-Chairperson Sherwin Gatchalian, based on the presentation of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) regarding the preliminary results […]