The Department of Education (DepEd) has approved P131 million for 131 schools that obtained negative results in the 2024-2025 literacy assessment. According to EDCOM 2, 85% of Grades 1-3 learners have difficulty reading, especially in schools in Regions 12, 9 and 8. Karol Mark Yee said that books, teacher training and support from the community are needed to address the worsening learning crisis.
The EDCOM 2 also warned that functional illiteracy in the country has almost doubled to 24.8 million in the past 30 years. UNICEF also showed that students' learning levels are seriously lagging behind, especially in reading and math. Therefore, experts insist that learning resources and teacher development should be further strengthened.
Meanwhile, the DepEd reported that textbook procurement increased by 289% after almost a decade of slow book delivery. From 27 titles in 2012-2023, it reached 105 titles in a year. In the 2026 budget, P29.16B is allocated for 103.9M learning materials, the largest in recent years.
To speed up the process, DepEd is implementing RA 12009 and DepEd Order 8 which require screening before bidding, to ensure that the books that arrive are complete, correct, and timely. DepEd targets to complete the quality assurance of 176 textbooks, 360 exemplars, and more 3,000 learning resource titles by 2026. They have also purchased educational toys for Kindergarten.
DepEd senior officials also expressed support for Secretary Sonny Angara amid the issues being thrown at him. They stressed that they have seen his integrity, transparency and reform efforts to make the education system more efficient and accountable. They said DepEd has no solid link to the allegations being spread and they remain full confidence in Angara's leadership.
