This was the grim scenario painted by Ed Fermin, vice president for academic affairs of National Teachers College, as part of his opening statement during a recent forum organized by the British Council, where he was joined by Lotus Postrado, country director, and Mike Cabigon, head of exams.
Alarming data
Held in observance of English Day, the roundtable discussion comes amid alarming data: nearly half of Filipino learners are not reading at grade level by Grade 3, and by age 15, 76 percent fall below minimum reading proficiency—equivalent to a 5.5-year learning deficit, according to the Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM 2) and the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA).
“They most importantly offered us evidence,” continued Fermin, who has worked with the British Council since 2003. “The type of evidence that leads us to greater clarity that there is a crisis in what we think is our strength.”
Underpinning learning
The panel agreed that English is no longer just a subject; rather, it is the infrastructure that underpins learning itself, enabling Filipino learners to access knowledge, develop skills, and participate in an increasingly English-speaking global landscape.
“English should be integrated into the learning experience, not isolated from it,” said Postrado. “Our role at the British Council is to make this pathway accessible through teaching support, curriculum integration, and learner-focused programmes that build confidence and skills across a wide range of English proficiency levels.”
Noting that English functions as the primary medium of instruction in subjects like mathematics and science—thus making communicative competence a cross-curricular concern—Fermin further pointed to two compounding problems: textbooks dominated by lower-order tasks with no alignment to recognized vocabulary frameworks, and teachers assessed at the same B2 benchmark set for basic education learners.
“The ESBE study revealed this is not just a proficiency problem, but a preparation problem,” he said.
Economic consequences
For his part, Cabigon warned that overseas recruitment partners are increasingly looking beyond the Philippines because candidates cannot meet English language requirements—a shift felt acutely in business process outsourcing (BPO) and online English as a Second Language (ESL) teaching, where internationally recognized certification is now standard.
This has economic consequences. As Cabigon stated, “The Philippines used to be the primary source of English-speaking nurses and skilled workers globally, but that position is now being challenged.”
Working together
To address these growing concerns, the British Council is working with key partners—the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and the Philippine Association of Colleges and Universities Commission on Accreditation (PACUCOA), among them—to promote the adoption of international English language standards through the use of standardized assessments for students and teachers in higher education.
Additionally, Fermin pointed to the National English Proficiency Act as a potential foundational anchor for rolling out these efforts nationwide.
Here to help
Through all these initiatives, the British Council expressed its readiness to help the government and partner institutions strengthen teaching, assessment, and curricula, aligning them with real-world communication needs.
Postrado said: “Our vision is to support government and institutional partners in building a system that can sustain English proficiency improvements on its own—one where English is an opportunity available to all Filipinos, not just a few.” —Ed: Corrie S. Narisma
Features Reporter
