THE Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) has expressed alarm over the high number of Filipinos who remain functionally illiterate, stressing the urgent need to increase the education sector’s budget to address the problem.
ACT criticized the government for the persistent neglect and underfunding of education, citing that 24.8 million Filipinos are functionally illiterate—a figure the group said reflects decades of misplaced priorities.
Ruby Bernardo, ACT chairperson, said in a statement that the statistics represent more than just numbers; they reflect millions of Filipinos who have been denied their fundamental right to quality education. She attributed the problem to chronic underfunding, the commercialization of education, and the government’s continued disregard for the welfare of both learners and teachers.
Meanwhile, ACT Davao President Reynaldo Pardillo said that the 24.8 million functionally illiterate Filipinos are a result of the government’s long neglect of education.
“Nga kung asa ang budget para sa edukasyon ning gamay pod ang pagdako sa pork barrel allocations, samtang ang mga magtutudlo naa sa kahimtang nga overworked og underpaid, og ang mga tulunghaan kulang sa mga klasrum og mga kagamitan sa pagtuon—so unsa ang atong maasahan na makabasa og makasulat og maayo ang atong mga kabatan-onan?” he said.
(While the budget for education remains insufficient and pork barrel allocations continue to grow, teachers are overworked and underpaid, and schools lack classrooms and learning materials — so how can we expect our youth to read and write well?)
ACT said the country’s functional illiteracy problem is closely tied to the worsening conditions of schools — from dilapidated classrooms and insufficient learning materials to teachers burdened with non-teaching tasks, and poverty that forces many students to drop out or prioritize daily survival over education.
Call for systemic reform
Bernardo said the government should stop blaming teachers or students for the literacy crisis, emphasizing that it is a systemic failure that demands systemic solutions.
She pointed out that the first step is to increase the education budget, reduce class sizes, provide adequate learning resources, ensure fair compensation for teachers, and implement concrete anti-poverty measures to keep children in school.
Bernardo added that if the government is truly serious about resolving the education crisis, it must hold corrupt officials accountable, recover stolen public funds, and reform the system that perpetuates neglect in the education sector.
ACT reiterated that the issue must be addressed with urgency, saying that higher budget allocations, better working conditions for teachers, and stronger support for marginalized learners are critical to reducing the number of functionally illiterate Filipinos.
State of literacy in the Philippines
According to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) in its 2024 Functional Literacy, Education, and Mass Media Survey (Flemms), the basic literacy rate among individuals aged five and above is 90 percent. Meanwhile, the functional literacy rate—which involves comprehension, the ability to process information, and make inferences—among persons aged 10 to 64 years is 70.8 percent.
This means that nearly 30 percent of Filipinos aged 10 to 64 can read, write, and perform basic computations but lack full functional literacy — struggling to comprehend and apply what they learn in real-life situations.
According to the Department of Education (DepEd), as of July 29, 2025, there are 19,870,531 students enrolled in both public and private schools at the basic education level. Of these, 17,349,300 are enrolled in public schools, while 2,285,923 are in private schools.
DepEd data also show that the elementary level has the highest number of enrollees, with 20,874,947 students, followed by Junior High School with 5,992,777, and Senior High School with 2,793,336. RGP