The learning crisis confronting Philippine education is certainly troubling when only four out of every 1,000 senior high school students can effectively demonstrate essential skills in problem solving, analyzing data, and communicating ideas.

The Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM 2), in its final report "Turning Point: A Decade of Necessary Reforms" presented last week, showed a systemic “proficiency collapse” where learning skills vanish as students advance through the grades.

In Grade 3, about 30 percent of learners are already considered proficient in reading and numeracy. By Grade 6, that number drops to 19 percent. By Grade 10, only 1.36 percent remain proficient. By Grade 12, the figure shrinks to just 0.47 percent—barely half of one percent. That means out of 1,000 graduating students, only four can confidently solve problems, analyze information, and clearly express ideas.

The shockingly sharp decline is not random. It begins in the early years of schooling, where many children fail to master basic skills. By Grade 3, nearly 70 percent still struggle to recognize letters and sounds, read simple words, understand short texts, count on their own, or do basic math.

When these skills are weak, everything that comes later becomes harder. Students move on to higher grades without the tools they need to learn. By the time Filipino students reach age 15, EDCOM 2 estimates they are, on average, 5.5 years behind where they should be academically.

Reading is the biggest barrier. Children who cannot read well cannot understand science lessons, solve math problems, or engage with history and civic lessons. International tests confirm this problem. Only 14 percent of Grade 5 students reach the highest reading levels in the SEA-PLM assessment, while PISA results show three out of four Filipino 15-year-olds cannot meet minimum reading standards.

The burden is heaviest on the most vulnerable learners. In geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas and last-mile schools, only 0.13 percent of Grade 12 students reached proficiency, with none classified as highly proficient. These schools face overcrowded classrooms, teacher shortages, weak infrastructure, and limited access to learning materials. Structural disadvantage, EDCOM 2 warns, magnifies learning loss.

The statistics on the learning crisis certainly appear grim. Yet, there is cause for hope—because the very data identifying the problem also reveals the path to solutions.

EDCOM 2’s final report presents a 10-year national roadmap (the National Education and Workforce Development Plan 2026–2035) that explicitly targets foundational learning gaps and proposes concrete performance targets. Among them are goals to raise reading and numeracy proficiency significantly by 2035 and to align education funding with global benchmarks.

“Turning Point: A Decade of Necessary Reforms” makes clear that recovery depends on prioritizing foundational learning. The Commission stresses that “this turning point is not self-executing” and requires sustained focus on early literacy, numeracy, learner nutrition, and teacher support. Without mastery of basic skills in the early grades, no reform at the secondary level can succeed.

Some corrective steps are already underway. The DepEd has begun decongesting the curriculum to focus more sharply on reading and math, a move EDCOM 2 supports. Textbook procurement has increased significantly, addressing long-standing shortages.

Targeted interventions such as the Academic Recovery and Accessible Learning (ARAL) Program aim to provide structured support to struggling readers rather than allowing learning gaps to widen.

Nutrition has also been rightly recognized as central to learning. Expanded school-based feeding programs under the 2026 national budget reflect EDCOM 2’s finding that hunger undermines classroom performance. An undernourished child cannot concentrate, retain information, or fully benefit from instruction.

More fundamentally, the effects of malnutrition begin long before a child enters a classroom. The first 1,000 days of life, from conception to a child’s second birthday, are critical for brain development. Malnutrition during this period causes irreversible damage to cognitive growth, attention, memory, and learning capacity.

Children who experience stunting or chronic undernutrition early in life often arrive at school already disadvantaged, struggling to keep pace no matter how dedicated their teachers may be. By the time learning gaps appear in Grade 3, the roots of the problem may already be a decade old.

Transparency is another critical reform. Through initiatives like Project BUKAS, education data is now more accessible to the public. As EDCOM 2 puts it, “We cannot fix what we do not acknowledge.” Open data allows parents, local governments, and civil society to see where schools are struggling and respond with targeted support.

Still, deeper structural changes are required. The Commission calls for a review of mass promotion policies that move students forward without mastery, producing graduates with credentials but weak skills. Teacher training, compensation, and classroom conditions must also improve if reforms are to endure.

The learning crisis did not emerge overnight, and it will not be solved quickly. But the diagnosis is clear, the data are public, and the roadmap exists. The time to act is now, before another generation pays the price for problems left unaddressed at the very start of a child’s life. ([email protected])