A landmark education review has flagged a troubling surge in functional illiteracy in the Philippines, with nearly 24.8 million Filipinos now unable to meet basic reading and numeracy demands. The figure, drawn from the 2024 Functional Literacy, Education and Mass Media Survey, is almost double the 14.5 million recorded three decades ago.
Members of the Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM 2) told lawmakers that the worsening trend reflects years of expanding responsibilities placed on the Department of Education (DepEd), pulling the agency away from its core mission of strengthening basic education.
During a hearing on DepEd’s mandate, Education Secretary Sonny Angara revealed that the department currently sits in 261 interagency bodies, chairs at least 20 and holds 21 more jointly with the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA).
“We tried to calculate and do a rough estimate that if we were to fully fund all of the laws on education, it would cost over a trillion pesos,” Angara said. “So we’re trying to have a plan for that going forward.”
EDCOM 2 executive director Karol Mark Yee said the expanding mandates have forced teachers and schools to shoulder tasks far beyond classroom instruction, including health screening, compliance reporting and disaster coordination. He noted that these responsibilities “have aggravated the deficit of support staff in schools, forcing teachers to absorb ancillary and administrative work,” affecting student learning outcomes.
The commission stressed that the original reform in 1994 that split the education ministry into DepEd, CHED and TESDA was designed to allow DepEd to focus sharply on basic literacy. Yet more than 150 laws and issuances since 2001 have widened the department’s workload instead.
DepEd is now streamlining its interagency roles under a dedicated education cluster within the Office of the President’s Cabinet to reclaim instructional focus.
Push for equitable school governance
The commission also highlighted disparities in school division office (SDO) workloads nationwide. Provinces like Leyte and Cebu manage more than 1,300 schools each, while Batanes oversees only 28.
Angara said the department is restructuring its field offices to better respond to learner needs. He cited congressional efforts to redirect funding, noting that “some flood control funds” have been shifted to boost the DepEd budget.
On Wednesday, Angara inaugurated the new SDO in Carmona City, Cavite, funded with a P30-million national subsidy. “Carmona will now have its own SDO funds. It will surely help the teachers, employees and learners of the city,” he said. The city’s schools were previously under the Cavite Provincial Division, which had oversight of 345 schools.
Teachers raise alarm
As reforms advance, teacher groups reminded policymakers of long-standing issues in the profession.
The Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) held a Halloween-themed protest near Mendiola on October 31, criticizing what they described as “ghosts” of bureaucracy, low pay and intimidation in the education sector. With the theme “Trick or Threat,” the demonstration called out unfulfilled promises, red-tagging and stalled salary reforms.
“Trick is for unfulfilled promises. The government claims that education is a priority, but teachers suffer from low salary and problematic promotion systems and the classrooms are substandard,” ACT chair Ruby Bernardo said. “Threat is for the continuous red-tagging and harassment against leaders and teachers unions.”
Bernardo also rejected the proposal to make existing benefits tax-free without increasing them. “What’s the use of being exempt from tax when it’s not enough from the start?” she said, adding that the real crisis stems from “a system that prioritizes kickbacks and profit over public service.”
ACT reiterated demands including a P50,000 starting salary for teachers, P36,000 for support staff, doubling of the education budget and measures to end corruption and political harassment.
