THE DEPARTMENT of Education (DepEd) on Wednesday reported a significant upward trend in learning recovery across the basic education system, citing marked improvements in students’ literacy and numeracy skills.

Based on the results of the Comprehensive Rapid Literacy Assessment, Rapid Math Assessment, and the Philippine Informal Reading Inventory for School Year 2025–2026, about 4.5 million learners who began the year as struggling readers improved their proficiency levels by the end of the school year.

Education Secretary Sonny Angara attributed the gains to targeted interventions focused on foundational literacy and numeracy, in line with President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s push to build a more resilient education system.

“Our goal is to strengthen the entire learning recovery pipeline—from the earliest grades through senior high—so that early literacy success translates into lasting proficiency and genuine readiness for the world beyond graduation,” Angara said.

The number of struggling readers—defined as learners requiring urgent intervention in core skills such as phonemic awareness, decoding, and basic comprehension—dropped from 6.7 million at the start of the school year to 2.2 million by year-end.

DepEd recorded the largest decline in Key Stage 1 (Grades 1 to 3), with a 33-percentage-point drop. This was followed by a 28-percentage-point decrease in Key Stage 3 (Grades 7 to 10) and a 16-percentage-point reduction in Key Stage 2 (Grades 4 to 6).