The Department of Education (DepEd) assured on Thursday that the government has been intensifying interventions in schools following reports of more than 18 million high school graduates from 2019-2024 considered “functional illiterate”.

DepEd Secretary Sonny Angara said instead of memorization, the agency is making efforts to help students become critical thinkers while teaching them 21st-century skills.

“Hindi namin hahayaang may batang nahuhuli sa pagbasa at pag-unawa (We will not let any child fall behind reading and comprehension). The recent FLEMMS results on functional literacy highlight what we have long recognized – – literacy must be at the heart of our education reforms,” he said.

The government, he said, is improving the teaching and assessment method as well as the remedial and literacy programs in schools.

Angara said the agency will ensure that every Filipino learner is functionally literate and prepared for thefuture.

Lawmakers on Wednesday raised alarm over the results of the 2024 Functional Literacy, Education, and Mass Media Survey (FLEMMS), which revealed that over 18 million high school graduates from 2019 to 2024 cannot read and comprehend.

The Philippine Statistics Authority defines a functionally literate person as someone who can read, write, compute, and comprehend. (PNA)