Grade 3 non-readers drop to 2,000 from 65,000
Credit to Author: Bella Cariaso| Date: Sat, 26 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0800
MANILA, Philippines — The number of Grade 3 pupils who could not read letters has dropped to around 2,000 this year from 65,000 last year, the Department of Education (DepEd) reported yesterday.
In an interview over dzMM, DepEd officer-in-charge Undersecretary for operations Malcolm Garma attributed the decrease to the department’s targeted remediation programs centered on basic literacy.
“Last term, we had around 65,000 Grade 3 (students) who cannot read letters. So what we did is to do some remediation programs. And fortunately, after the remediation program that we have done, around less than 2,000 of students who cannot still read letters. They are now in Grade 4,” he said.
Garma underscored the importance of strengthening foundational literacy skills among learners in the early grades to address long-term learning challenges.
“We saw that the higher grades cannot comprehend if the learners cannot follow even the basic literacy… so what we are focusing on right now is basic literacy so that we can develop functional literacy which will include already comprehension,” he added.
Garma also noted the Philippines’ participation in the 2025 cycle of the Programme for International Student Assessment, with results expected in 2027.
In the 2022 PISA, the country placed 76th in Mathematics, 77th in Reading, and 79th in Science out of 81 participating nations, with scores in all domains falling below the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development average.
Alongside the remediation programs, DepEd also attributed the success to the implementation of the Academic Recovery and Accessible Learning (ARAL) program, which covers students from Kindergarten to Grade 10.
“(ARAL) is part of the recovery program so we assess each grade level to determine those we cannot read or behind the learning including in numeracy or Math. They will have a separate program or intervention for them to be able to catch up,” Garma said.
To support learning continuity, Garma said DepEd is prioritizing areas with limited access to digital tools and is pursuing public-private partnerships to bolster resources.
“We cannot depend 100 percent on our budget. That’s why we are innovating… The funds will be provided first so that we can procure immediately our digital hardware requirements,” he added.
Efforts to enhance teacher development are also underway, with Education Secretary Sonny Angara pushing for career progression, regular salary increases and additional allowances.
“Career progression means that we would like to see and ensure that no teacher will retire as Teacher 1 and Teacher 2 as we provide plans for their career path,” he said.
“We also provide medical allowance for our teachers plus P10,000 allowance so all of these aim to improve the condition of the teachers. This will also reflect on the students. If the performance of the learners is good, it means the teachers are also performing well,” he added.
According to Garma, the sharp decline in the number of non-readers stands as one of the key accomplishments under Angara’s leadership at the DepEd, and is expected to be among the milestones highlighted in President Marcos’ fourth State of the Nation Address on Monday.