Nearly 19 million junior and senior high school graduates in 2024 are unable to read or comprehend a simple story, according to data presented during the Senate’s education panel on Wednesday.

Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority shows that 18.96 million students are not ‘functionally literate,’ defined by the agency as the ability to read, write, compute, and comprehend.

In response, Department of Education (DepEd) Secretary Sonny Angara on 1 May noted existing interventions including intensified remedial classes and literacy programs in schools.

“We have also deepened our teaching and assessment methods. Instead of focusing on memorization, we are shaping students to become critical thinkers with 21st-century skills,” Angara said.

Among programs that will be rolled out this summer is the Bawat Bata Makakabasa Program (BBMP), which will serve some 75,000 early grade students in Region 9, and the Literacy Remediation Program (LRP) targeting over 59,000 “Low Emerging Readers” in other regions.

The BBMP will cater to around 75,000 first to third-grade students across Region 9 (Zamboanga Peninsula), while the LRP will target over 59,000 students outside Region 9 classified as “Low Emerging Readers.”

DepEd also announced a Summer Academic Remedial Program for fourth to 12th-grade students who failed subjects or require specialized support, along with a 2025 Learning Camp pilot in 10 schools.

The majority of the provinces with the highest illiteracy rates are in the Visayas and Mindanao, with Tawi-Tawi ranking first at 67 percent, followed by Davao Occidental (53 percent), Zamboanga del Sur (49 percent), and Northern Samar (48 percent).