5.58 million high school graduates are illiterate, according to data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA). Although they can read, write, and do arithmetic, they have difficulty understanding what they read—a characteristic of being “functionally illiterate.”
Initially, it was reported that 18.9 million Filipinos fell into this category. However, the PSA clarified that this number refers to those who are "basically literate" or those who can only read, write and do arithmetic, not high school graduates who lack comprehension.
Based on the 2024 Functional Literacy, Education and Mass Media Survey (FLEMMS), the PSA said that 5.58M high school graduates, including junior high school completers, aged 10 to 64, are literate but lack the ability to comprehend text.
According to Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian, this is one of the reasons why poverty levels are high in many provinces. He also estimated that 24.82M Filipinos in the same age group are considered functionally illiterate, while 5.86M are completely illiterate.
The definition of functional literacy has also changed according to the latest PSA survey, so the extent of the problem in the country's education is now better reflected.
