The Decline In Literacy Proficiency Among Filipino learners

The Philippine Book Festival 2024 is about to start and to be hosted in the World Trade Center Manila from April 25 to 28, 2024 chronologically denotes the significance of literacy in the Philippines. Amidst the anticipation of literary festivities, there looms a concerning trend: a worrisome decline in literacy proficiency among Filipino learners is visible in the last decade. Based on SE-PLM’s Southeast Asia Primary Learning Metrics study of 2019, it is revealed that the average reading and writing scores of Filipino grade 5 students are much lower if compared to the scores in other neighboring countries, namely Malaysia and Vietnam. The decrease in literacy rates in the Philippines cannot be explained by just one single reason. The factors mentioned are interrelated and they are all influential to the Philippines’ education.


The inequality in the educational quality experienced by the Filipino learners of private and public schools is one of the major factors that causes the literacy drop in the country. The Philippine school system is generally confronting problems like overcrowding, insufficient funding, and the absence of basic facilities such as classrooms, library materials, and computers. Such resource inadequacies will bring about huge disparities in educational chances leading the disabled to a situation where the majority of Filipino learners in public schools can hardly manage to get a high-quality education of their own.


Meanwhile, poverty also proves itself as another well-known obstacle that prevents people from the rise of literacy among Filipino learners. Though a lucky few manage to be higher-income families, the majority of the community live beyond the poverty line, consequently becoming a crucial source of strain for the families as they could not afford even the basic needs, not to mention educational materials such as school supplies and uniforms. Economic stress further magnifies educational inequalities, as there are circumstances where students from impoverished backgrounds may have to go through such difficulties as missing lessons and hence dragging behind their mates, all of which consequently hampers their literacy development.

Furthermore, the fact that reading and literacy receive ever less attention at school makes the crisis in literacy in the Philippines not surprisingly even worse. The deficiency that many educational facilities are experiencing is that they do not devote enough attention to the nurturing of reading skills, and therefore have not had any solid literacy programs that ensure that Filipino learners are receiving continuous support. The absence of this supervisory role would handicap students as they would be unable to comprehend the intricacies of the complex texts and interact with the homework meaningfully, thus slowing down their academic growth and overall literacy competence.


On one hand, the massive technology and social media platforms that have flooded our lives have symbolized the frightening edge of the sword in the struggle to save literacy from decay. Although the widespread use of screens proposes an abundance of attainable content on the Internet as well as various learning platforms, students in the Philippines seem to be reading less and less. Due to many young people, schools, and even adults passive on their social media browsing, digital media entertainment takes the front seat over readership and academic attainment.

Turning the tide of declining rates of literacy among Filipino learners must be through exerting concise effort in the solution of those complex challenges. Firstly, it seems fair to put more emphasis on schools that cannot afford to educate students just by themselves. This emphasizes the need for the exchange of resources between public and private schools -like increasing the investment in public education infrastructure and equitable allocation of public funding. Endowing students with sufficient facilities, books, and technology acting as tools necessary for literacy development in turn will give all students or even grade levels access to the necessary tools.

Furthermore, the importance of special courses to affect poverty-related barriers to teaching education is essential. These measures cover the creation of programs for financial aid, school subsidies, and provisions of necessary goods for poor families as a means of granting the same privilege of pursuing the welfare of education to every student.


Aside from that, there is an emergency for renewal of the educational curriculum to make literacy skills array a key point and create a reading culture within schools. Among all interventions, creating comprehensive literacy programs integrating reading across different subjects, and establishing a conductive learning environment where reading will be valued among students are potential approaches that together with other interventions can empower students to become effective readers and writers.


Additionally, making use of technology could be seen as a supporting tool for literacy rather than one of the barriers is another important aspect. Developing the digital literacy programs marked by a close synergy with the school curriculum, involving the use of technology to improve the students’ reading comprehension levels and critical thought.


All in all, curbing the current wave of illiteracy among Filipino learners necessitates a more systematic approach that sees the connection between different social, economic, and academic-driven factors. Thus, funding better education, reducing poverty among the people, and incorporating more reading hours in the school curriculum will make Filipino people an intellectually fit and skilled generation capable of withstanding the everyday challenges that the world brings. At last, harnessing the potential of technology in education can effectively enable Filipino students to be ready to face and overcome these challenges. Alongside this is the task of collaborating and cooperating so that we can ensure every child can reach his/her total potential through the power of literacy.