10/06/2026
"A child who struggles to understand a simple passage in Grade 3 will likely struggle with science, history, mathematics, research, and critical thinking in later years if the problem is never addressed."
an excerpt from ANALYSIS By Mia Magdalena Fokno, LPT. Read more about how our students needs to develop mastery of foundational skills at an early age. Kumon is an after-school program that helps support learners' math and reading skills at any age. Enroll now and take advantage of the free registration promo offered only this month. Send us a message to know how!
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How did they reach Grade 11 without mastering reading?
𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘭. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦.
ANALYSIS
By Mia Magdalena Fokno, LPT
June 10, 2026
On Monday, millions of Filipino students walked back through school gates across the country. Some were excited. Some were nervous. Some were simply happy to see their friends again. They carried new notebooks, fresh school supplies, and the hopes that come with every opening of classes.
Parents took photos. Schools reported enrollment figures. Officials welcomed the start of another school year.
But as classes begin anew, one question hangs heavily over Philippine education:
𝘼𝙧𝙚 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙘𝙝𝙞𝙡𝙙𝙧𝙚𝙣 𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙪𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜?
One statistic should stop the entire country in its tracks.
According to the Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM 2), 87 percent of Grade 11 students assessed in a pilot nationwide literacy evaluation were not independent readers. Only 12.58 percent demonstrated the level of reading proficiency expected of senior high school students.
The rest either struggled to understand grade-level reading materials on their own or still needed help from teachers to make sense of what they were reading.
Pause there for a moment.
These are not children just learning how to read. These are Grade 11 students. Many are one year away from graduation. Some will enter college. Others will seek employment, pursue technical-vocational training, or begin supporting their families.
Yet a significant majority still struggle with one of the most fundamental skills education is supposed to provide.
So the question is unavoidable: 𝙃𝙤𝙬 𝙙𝙞𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙜𝙚𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙛𝙖𝙧 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙢𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙝𝙚𝙣𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣?
The answer is uncomfortable because it does not point to a single culprit. Not teachers. Not parents. Not students. Not one administration.
Instead, the evidence assembled by EDCOM 2 points to a system where learning gaps begin early, accumulate over time, and often remain unresolved as learners move from one grade level to the next.
In its recently ratified 10-year reform agenda, 𝘛𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘗𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵: 𝘈 𝘋𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘕𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘙𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘴 (2026–2035), EDCOM 2 identified foundational literacy as one of the country’s most urgent education challenges. The commission found that many learners are already falling behind in the early grades. By the time they reach higher levels, those deficits have compounded.
A child who struggles to understand a simple passage in Grade 3 will likely struggle with science, history, mathematics, research, and critical thinking in later years if the problem is never addressed.
Reading is not just another subject. It is the foundation upon which almost every other subject rests. When that foundation is weak, the entire structure becomes unstable.
This is why EDCOM 2 has repeatedly raised concerns about learner progression despite weak mastery of competencies. For years, educators have wrestled with a difficult reality: learners often move to the next grade level carrying academic gaps that should have been addressed much earlier.
The intention is rarely malicious. Schools want learners to succeed. Teachers do not want children left behind. Parents understandably fear the stigma of failure.
But learning does not disappear simply because a report card says a learner has advanced.
𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙜𝙖𝙥 𝙖𝙙𝙫𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙨, 𝙩𝙤𝙤.
By senior high school, the consequences become harder to hide. A learner who struggles to understand written instructions will likely struggle across multiple subjects. Eventually, those difficulties follow them beyond school and into employment, citizenship, and daily life.
That is why literacy is not merely an education issue. It affects workforce readiness, economic productivity, public health, civic participation, and poverty reduction.
The reading crisis is also unfolding inside a system under significant strain.
EDCOM 2 has documented a classroom shortage estimated at more than 165,000 classrooms nationwide, alongside thousands of aging school facilities that require repair or replacement. Many teachers continue to manage large class sizes while balancing teaching responsibilities with administrative requirements and other non-teaching tasks.
Reading intervention is intensive work. A struggling learner needs assessment, guided practice, monitoring, and consistent follow-through. That becomes far more difficult when one teacher is responsible for dozens of learners with varying needs inside an overcrowded classroom.
The pandemic further exposed these weaknesses. Millions of Filipino learners spent critical years learning through printed modules, unstable internet connections, shared devices, and learning environments that varied dramatically from one household to another.
Some adapted well. Many did not.
When face-to-face classes resumed, schools inherited learners whose academic records often concealed significant learning losses. A learner may have progressed academically on paper while carrying reading deficiencies from years earlier.
The problem did not begin during the pandemic, but the pandemic magnified it.
Curriculum overload has also been identified as a contributing factor. For years, teachers have been expected to cover a vast number of competencies within limited timeframes. The result is often a race to complete lessons rather than ensuring mastery of foundational skills.
The MATATAG curriculum and EDCOM 2’s recommendations seek to address this by reducing curriculum congestion and placing greater emphasis on literacy, numeracy, early childhood development, remediation programs, and learning recovery interventions.
These reforms are promising. But reforms should ultimately be measured not by policy documents, launch events, or press releases. They should be measured by whether a learner who struggles today can read independently tomorrow.
That is where the national conversation must change.
For decades, education discussions have focused heavily on access: how many children are enrolled, how many classrooms were built, how many schools opened, and how many students graduated.
These are important measures.
But EDCOM 2’s findings suggest they are no longer sufficient.
𝘼 𝙘𝙝𝙞𝙡𝙙 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙗𝙚 𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙗𝙚 𝙡𝙚𝙛𝙩 𝙗𝙚𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙙.
A learner can attend school every day, wear the uniform, complete assignments, move from one grade level to the next, and still emerge without mastering the skills needed to thrive.
That reality should concern every Filipino, whether they have children in school or not.
Because education is not measured by attendance.
𝙄𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝙢𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙗𝙮 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜.
The Philippines has made significant progress in bringing children into classrooms, and that achievement deserves recognition. But enrollment is only the beginning.
The harder challenge is ensuring that every learner who enters a classroom leaves it able to read, understand, analyze, question, and think.
School openings will always be important. But the true measure of success is not how many students walk through the school gate on the first day of classes. It is what they know, understand, and can do when they walk out years later.
Getting children into school was the first battle.
Making sure they learn is the one that matters most.
