Senator Loren Legarda has filed a measure targeting the country’s early education crisis by strengthening literacy, numeracy, and socio-emotional learning for children in Kindergarten through Grade 3.

The proposed K to 3 Foundational Learning and Nurturing Care Act aims to bridge the gap between early childhood care and the formal K-12 system. Legarda cited findings from the Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM II) showing that nearly half of Filipino learners cannot read at grade level by the end of the third grade.

Global data from UNICEF and the World Bank further highlight the scale of the issue, revealing that 91 percent of Filipino children at late primary age struggle to read and understand a simple story.

This figure places the Philippines among the nations with the highest “learning poverty” rates globally.

“What begins as a reading problem ultimately becomes a learning crisis,” Legarda said. “If we fail our children in the early years, we fail them for life. This is a crisis we cannot afford to ignore.”

While the country has an existing framework for early childhood care under Republic Act 12199, Legarda noted a “missing middle” that leaves students unprepared for higher grades. The bill adopts a “prevention-first” strategy, focusing on high-quality instruction integrated with socio-emotional learning (SEL) to help children manage emotions and build resilience.

Legarda, who chairs the Senate Committee on Higher, Technical, and Vocational Education, argued that fixing early education would reduce the need for costly remediation later. She noted that improved foundational learning leads to fewer repeaters and dropouts, ensuring more efficient use of the national education budget.

“Education is the nation’s most powerful equalizer,” Legarda said. “When we give every Filipino child the tools to read, count, and care, we give them the power to dream, to achieve, and to contribute meaningfully to our country’s future.”