EDCOM 2 Co-Chairs Rep. Roman Romulo and Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian urged the government to decongest the school 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,” Romulo said.

“Kailangang hanapin kung sino ang mga batang ito sa eskwelahan… at siguraduhing bigyan sila ng tutor at siguraduhing bago sila mag-graduate, functionally literate sila,” Gatchalian emphasized.

Their statements came following the Senate Committee on Basic Education’s April 30 hearing, which revealed that around 18 million Filipinos who graduated from high school are functionally illiterate, based on the 2024 Functional Literacy, Education, and Mass Media Survey.

Gatchalian, who chaired the hearing, warned that as of 2024, the education system may have produced around 19 million high school graduates who are functionally illiterate.

Romulo pointed to decongesting the K-to-12 curriculum as a key solution, urging the Department of Education to move beyond pilot studies and begin actual implementation.

“The problem really is that we have already made school too difficult for students. We must make students learn to love going to school again… and to do that, we must reduce the number of subjects to focus on foundational skills,” he 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 personal experiences during EDCOM 2 fieldwork.

“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,” Gatchalian said.

In separate interviews, the EDCOM Co-Chairs also urged DepEd to roll out immediate intervention programs for learners identified as 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 estudyanteng ‘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,” said EDCOM Executive Director Dr. Karol Yee.

“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,” she added.