This was highlighted in a report titled “LGU Playbook: Fixing the Foundations of Local Education” released by the Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM II), a body mandated to assess the country’s education sector and propose reforms.
According to the report, only 30.5 percent of Grade 3 pupils are proficient or highly proficient in foundational skills. This drops to 19.56 percent by Grade 6, and by Grade 12, just 0.40 percent achieve proficiency in the National Achievement Test (NAT), reflecting weak learning foundations.
“By the time Filipino students reach age 10, 91 percent are in learning poverty, meaning they cannot read or understand simple text,” the report said.
Low early learning intervention
The report noted that early learning interventions remain limited. Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) programs for children aged three to four cover only 34 percent nationwide, while more than 4,600 barangays still lack a Child Development Center (CDC).
Based on Beginning of School Year (BOSY) assessments such as the Comprehensive Rapid Literacy Assessment (CRLA), up to 88 percent of students are not “grade-level ready” in reading at the start of the school year.
CRLA data showed the highest literacy gaps in Mindanao provinces, including Tawi-Tawi (75.60 percent), Maguindanao del Norte (65.38 percent), and Sulu (59.63 percent).
In Cebu, 39.31 percent of students are struggling readers—meaning nearly four in 10 lack foundational reading skills.
Basic foundations
The report identified three key pillars of education reform: proper nutrition from ages zero to four, early childhood education, and literacy by Grade 3.
It noted that 23.6 percent of Filipino children under five are stunted, leading to irreversible physical and cognitive damage.
The Department of Social Welfare and Development’s supplemental feeding program covers only enrolled daycare children, leaving 213,702 children aged two to four outside the system malnourished. The P25 per meal allocation is also considered insufficient.
Daycares and tutors
The report urged LGUs to expand access to early education through daycares and child development centers, citing new policies that allow the use of the Special Education Fund (SEF) for facilities and personnel.
It also encouraged alternative approaches such as subsidizing private daycare enrollment, as implemented in Pasig City, and funding tutoring programs like reading camps in Norzagaray, Bulacan.
“Elected officials must not be spectators to national policy but architects of its success,” the report said. —Ed: Corrie S. Narisma
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