MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian has expressed alarm over a report of the Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM 2) showing the doubling of functionally illiterate Filipinos to 24.8 million in the past 30 years.
“We will not resolve the country’s education crisis if many Filipinos remain functionally illiterate, which nearly doubled to 24.8 million in the last 30 years,” Gatchalian said.
“Mobilizing local government units is one of the strategies I have been proposing to boost functional literacy,” he added.
Gatchalian said he filed a proposed National Literacy Council Act, which designates local school boards as the de facto local literacy councils in provinces, cities and municipalities.
“If our LGUs will actively participate in stamping out functional illiteracy, we will be able to reach out more easily to our countrymen who are most in need,” Gatchalian said in Filipino.
According to EDCOM 2, there were 14.5 million functionally illiterate Filipinos in 1993.
The number almost doubled according to the 2024 Functional Literacy, Education and Mass Media Survey.