EDCOM urges DepEd to fast track curriculum decongestion and literacy remediation

PHILIPPINES, May 3 - Press Release
April 30, 2025

EDCOM urges DepEd to fast track curriculum decongestion and literacy remediation

EDCOM 2 Co-Chairs Rep. Roman Romulo and Sen. Win Gatchalian urged the government to decongest the curriculum and implement targeted interventions to address the country's dismal literacy rates.

"The solution is to go directly to the problem, and that is to reduce the subjects for foundational skills...We must reduce the number of subjects", Rep. Romulo said.

"Kailangang hanapin kung sino ang mga bata itong nasa eskwelahan...at siguraduhing bigyan sila ng tutor at siguraduhing bago sila mag-graduate, functionally literate sila", Sen. Gatchalian urged.

The responses come in the wake of the Senate Committee on Basic Education's findings in an April 30 hearing that around 18 million Filipinos who graduated from high school are functionally illiterate, according to the 2024 Functional Literacy, Education, and Mass Media Survey.

Gatchalian, who chaired the hearing, sounded the alarm that, as of 2024, the country's education system could have produced around 19 million high school graduates who are functionally illiterate.

Romulo cited the decongestion of the K-to-12 Curriculum as a solution, saying that the Department of Education (DepEd) should already take action by going beyond pilot studies and start actually implementing it.

"The problem, really, is that we have already made school so difficult for students. We must be able to make the student again learn to love going to school...And to do that we must reduce the subjects in order to focus on foundational skills," Romulo said.

"Ang Pilipino po, matalino by nature. Para sa akin, nagkulang ang education system natin. Tumutok tayo sa napakaraming ibang competencies; pero kailangan muna, balik tayo sa basics," he continued.

The two lawmakers also cited first-hand experiences in consultations and site visits as EDCOM 2 Commissioners.

"Nakita ko 'yan in our EDCOM fieldwork, mayroon akong na-engkwentro na 15 years old na siya, pero hirap pa rin siyang magbasa ng simpleng storya, hirap 'din mag-compute...kaya nakita ko 'yan with my own eyes", said Gatchalian.

In separate interviews, the EDCOM Co-Chairs also urged DepEd to conduct urgent intervention programs to address learners who may be found to be functionally illiterate.

"Tingnan natin ang assessments, at kung gusto nila, magbigay on the first week of school...Base doon sa assessment na 'yun, kung may estudyante talagang "no read, no write", ilagay muna sila sa isang klase para may special classes", Romulo said.

"For the first time, talagang 'yung interventions po ng DepEd, nakatutok sa literacy...Mahalaga pong hakbang ito," Yee said.

"Paano na sa June? DepEd will be running the ARAL Program, at doon po mahalaga na teaching at the right level ang gagawin natin...Dapat po sa pang-araw araw, hindi business as usual, pero talagang mayroon na tayong interventions pagdating sa literacy", he continued.

DepEd laid out its plans to address the low functional literacy rates, including curriculum decongestion via MATATAG, revisiting our grading and retention policies to combat "mass promotion," implementing remediation programs like Bawat Bata Makababasa, Literacy Remediation, and the ARAL Program, and piloting functional literacy programs for out-of-school youth.

"Hindi namin hahayaang may batang nahuhuli sa pagbasa at pag-unawa," DepEd Secretary Sonny Angara said. "The recent FLEMMS results on functional literacy highlight what we have long recognized. Literacy must be at the heart of our education reforms".