To address functional literacy, the Department of Education (DepEd) is calling for the continued fulfillment of the Constitution’s mandate that education remain the highest budgetary priority.

DepEd emphasized that addressing the country’s literacy challenges requires funding that matches the actual costs and scale of its expanding responsibilities.

The Education department noted that while its mandate has steadily broadened since its inception, resources have not always kept pace. Certain landmark laws — such as the ARAL Program Act, the Career Progression System for Public School Teachers and School Leaders, the Basic Education Mental Health and Well-Being Promotion Act, and the Alternative Learning System Act — were enacted lacking or without sustained financial support, making implementation difficult.

“While responsibilities grew, resources did not always follow,” Education Secretary Sonny Angara said.

“We have been spread too thinly. We must reclaim our focus on foundational learning, consistent with the intentions of the first EDCOM in the 1990s," Angara added.

This cumulative burden, which has stretched the Department’s resources and impacted its focus, was a central finding presented during the Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM 2) hearing on 28 October 2025.

During the hearing, Angara reaffirmed DepEd’s commitment to focus on functional literacy and improved learning outcomes, as directed by President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr., even as the Department grapples with multiplied mandates, limited funds, stretched coordination, and resource gaps.

To unburden the agency, DepEd is playing an active role in shaping the education and workforce development group under the Office of the President, which will serve as the coordinating body for education and labor agencies.

The Department has also assigned its Executive Committee members to lead engagement in high-impact and “mission-aligned” coordinating bodies only, such as inclusive education, education-to-employment efforts, and curriculum review and revision.

To support its push for foundational learning, DepEd successfully procured 60 new textbook titles in the past two years alone, compared with 27 titles from 2012 to 2023, representing a 122 percent increase.

Since assuming office, Angara has also pursued forward-looking initiatives to build more classrooms, including public-private partnerships and flexible participation options for local government units and civil society organizations.

These efforts are reinforced by reforms already underway within DepEd, such as the rollout of the streamlined and strengthened K to 10 and Senior High School curriculum, nationwide teacher and school head training programs, and the integration of education technology and digitalization across schools and divisions.

To ease administrative burdens, DepEd has also deployed additional administrative officers in schools, allowing teachers to concentrate more on teaching rather than paperwork.

While pursuing long-term solutions to fulfill its mandates, DepEd has also taken immediate steps to sustain programs that remain lacking in funds. The Academic Recovery and Accessible Learning Program alone requires P9.6 billion, with a P3.3 billion funding gap for 2026.

To keep the program running, DepEd reprogrammed internal savings and allocated P1.8 billion to cover the printing of tutorial modules and teacher training for its initial rollout.

“Sustained reform requires sustained support. We must never forget our bottom line: a Filipino learner who can read and comprehend,” Angara said.