ONE in 10 Grade 5 students in the Philippines cannot read, according to the Southeast Asia Primary Learning Metrics 2019 (SEA-PLM).
The report also revealed that one in 10 students failed to meet the minimum reading standard, while two in 10 students lacked the mathematical skills expected at their level.
This was stressed during a sideline interview at the Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) Convergence, which gathers sectors of the National Nutrition Council, ECCD, the Cebu City Nutrition Network, the Council for the Welfare of Children, the local government units, and stakeholders in Cebu City on Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024.
According to ECCD specialist Psyche Olayvar, this data reflects the country’s performance in the regional SEA-PLM, which assesses educational proficiency at the end of primary education.
“The Philippines joined SEA-PLM. It’s a test done at the regional level. We participated in the test; the first one was in 2019, the figure cited that one of 10 don’t know how to read, not reading at their expected level, which is Grade 5. It’s based on that result,” Olayvar said in a mix of Tagalog and English.
“Two of 10 na Grade 5 learners don’t have that mathematics skill when they are in Grade 5,” Olayvar added.
Olayvar said that the test, when it was correlated with the experience in early childhood education, “proved and affirmed the results of the research that the goal of early childhood care development, including childhood education, is significant.”
Olayvar said that based on the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) data in 2020, only 19 percent of ages three to four-year-old children are attending early education.
Test
In the report from SEA-PLM 2019, Grade 5 students in the Philippines scored an average of 288 on the reading assessment, ranking behind Vietnam (336), Malaysia (319), Myanmar (292), and Cambodia (290).
The Philippines outperformed only Laos, where students scored an average of 275.
While a score of 288 means Filipino Grade 5 students can read a variety of everyday texts fluently and understand their meaning, only 10 percent demonstrated the minimum proficiency level, which involves comprehending texts with familiar structures and managing conflicting information.
Also, the average score for Filipino Grade 5 students in mathematics was 288, indicating they can generally apply number properties and units of measurement.
SunStar Cebu tried to contact Department of Education Central Visayas Regional Director Salustiano Jimenez to ask for a comment about these findings but has yet to respond as of press time.
Call
Olayvar said that there must be two approaches to battling the crisis, one of which is to create a demand that parents should understand how important an early education can be in establishing the learning of children.
Under this approach, Olayvar said that it’s important to let children, especially those aged three years old, do the “play-based approach,” or to let children learn through playing and not push them to read and write.
For the second approach, Olayvar said the government should be involved, ensuring services are accessible and available to children. (CDF)