By Gabriel Bernales & Nycel Jane Dela
The nation’s education system stands on the brink of collapse. While the country’s leaders remain preoccupied with political maneuvering and self-serving agendas, millions of Filipinos are being left behind victims of a system that has failed to uphold one of their most basic rights: access to quality education.
The warning signs are impossible to ignore. According to the Philippine Statistics Authority’s Functional Literacy, Education, and Mass Media Survey (FLEMMS), 24 million Filipinos aged 10–64 are functionally illiterate, with 5.8 million unable to read or write at all. Even more disturbing is the fact that one in five high school graduates in 2024 was found to be functionally illiterate, amounting to over 18.9 million young people struggling with essential skills such as reading, writing, arithmetic, and comprehension. The World Bank paints an equally grim picture: 91% of Filipino children aged 10 cannot read a simple text, a crisis further exacerbated by the pandemic.
Even before COVID-19, the quality of Philippine education had been steadily declining. In the 2022 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), Filipino 15-year-olds scored an average of just 14 points in creative thinking—placing the Philippines among the bottom four of 64 countries. This assessment measured the ability to generate and improve ideas through imagination and innovation—skills essential for the 21st century.
Poverty and child labor remain major drivers of illiteracy. In 2023, 678,000—62% of the 1.1 million working children—were engaged in hazardous labor. Early pregnancies also disrupt education, with a staggering 35% increase in live births among girls under 15. With 10.5 million Filipino children living in poverty as of 2021, these barriers only deepen the cycle of educational deprivation and functional illiteracy.
What the country needs now is a comprehensive and well-funded education reform agenda—one that is inclusive, urgent, and future-ready. As of 2024, only 3.6% of the national GDP is allocated to education, far below the 6% recommended by UNESCO. This chronic underinvestment is a key reason why classrooms remain overcrowded, learning materials are outdated, and teacher salaries are insufficient.
The government must prioritize increasing the education budget—not just for infrastructure, but also for teacher training, curriculum development, and targeted literacy programs in the most vulnerable communities.
However, funding alone is not enough. There must be accountability, transparency, and a collective effort to rebuild trust in the education system. Teachers need stronger support—not just financially, but professionally—through fair wages, continuous training, and access to mental health services. Parents and communities must also be empowered to take an active role in their children’s learning, breaking the mindset that education is solely the government’s responsibility.
If this trajectory continues, the consequences will be dire—not just for individual lives, but for the nation’s future. The education crisis is no longer a distant threat. It is here, it is urgent, and it demands the full attention of those in power. Without bold reforms, decisive investments, and a clear national commitment to quality learning, the Philippines risks raising a generation unprepared for the challenges of tomorrow.
