Grade 5 students in Philippines trail Southeast Asia in reading, math proficiency

By Almira Louise S. Martinez and Aubrey Rose A. Inosante, Reporters

GRADE 5 students in the Philippines continue to fall behind most Southeast Asian neighbors in terms of proficiency in reading and mathematics, a learning assessment program by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO) showed.

The 2024 Southeast Asia Primary Learning Metrics (SEA-PLM) showed the 14% of Grade 5 students in the Philippines were considered to have “high proficiency” in reading, an improvement from the 10% in the 2019 study.

However, this was second lowest among the six countries in the study, after Vietnam, where 66% of Grade 5 students had high proficiency in reading. The Philippines was also behind Malaysia (49%), Myanmar (31%) and Cambodia (18%), but ahead of Lao (4%).

In the Philippines, 13% of Grade 5 students were considered to have reached the minimum proficiency level for reading, where they can connect related information across sections of texts to understand key ideas. This was slightly higher than 12% in 2019.

On the other hand, 27% of Grade 5 students in the Philippines have very low reading proficiency or are able to associate one of four given words to an illustration of a familiar object, place, or symbol. It was unchanged from 2019.

The study also showed a modest gain in reading performance of Filipino students, with the national average nearly flat at 289.5 in 2024 from 287.7 in 2019.

Meanwhile, neighboring countries such as Cambodia and Myanmar had increased their national average by 6.3 and 13.6 points, respectively.

Vietnam had the highest reading score at 323.5, followed by Malaysia at 313.6.

Education Secretary Juan Edgardo “Sonny” M. Angara on Thursday said that the Philippines is doubling its efforts to boost the proficiency level of students nationwide, amid the decline of learning outcomes in international assessments.

“Let us not be worried, scores are dropping worldwide, but since we are trying to catch up with other countries, we need to work double time,” Mr. Angara told reporters in Filipino at the sidelines of an event.

“Actually, even if we don’t know the result yet, we are already focusing on literacy and numeracy,” he added.

In mathematics, the study also showed only 26% of Grade 5 students in the Philippines demonstrated high proficiency, an improvement from the 17% in 2019.

However, Filipino students were the second worst in the region, trailing Vietnam (88%), Malaysia (53%), Myanmar (51%), and Cambodia (40%) but ahead of Lao (17%).

The Philippines saw its mathematics score improve by 4.9 points to 292.8 from 287.9 in 2019. Myanmar, which had a similar score to the Philippines in 2019, increased its score by 19.2 points in 2024, while Cambodia gained 12 points. Vietnam still has the highest ranking in mathematics in the region, with a score of 334.6, followed by Malaysia with a score of 309.9.

SEA-PLM is a regional assessment launched by the SEAMEO Secretariat and the UNICEF EAPRO, designed to measure the learning outcomes of Grade 5 students, particularly in reading and math. There were 5,070 learners from 156 schools in the Philippines who participated in the 2024 SEA-PLM.

ACCESS TO TEXTBOOKS
The UNICEF-SEAMEO study linked higher scores in both reading and mathematics with Filipino students who have access to textbooks, highlighting socioeconomic status as one of the primary drivers of the learning differences in the country.

Data from the report found that the Philippines have 52% of students with one textbook, 23% share one textbook with two students, 19% share one textbook with two or more students, and 7% have no textbook.

The Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) Chairman Ruby Bernardo raised concerns about the availability of textbooks, underscoring the importance of funding literacy interventions in public schools.

“This is a damning indictment. More than 131 schools need deeper support,” Ms. Bernardo said in a Facebook message, citing the 131 schools nationwide that are expected to receive funding under the Batang Bumabasa Initiative by the Department of Education (DepEd) to boost literacy rates.

“All of the roughly 48,000 public schools are affected by shortages of teachers, classrooms, books, and learning materials,” she added. “Literacy will not improve without the most basic necessities.”

The Education department reported earlier this month a 289% surge in textbook procurement following a decade-long stagnation in learning resources.

Citing the Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM 2), the agency said it has procured and passed 105 titles within a year, a stark difference from the 27 textbook titles procured from 2012 to 2023.

MISALIGNED POLICIES
Analysts said misaligned policies of the DepEd and chronic underfunding are the key factors behind the weak performance of Filipino students.

“The problem is due to DepEd policies which are not attuned to the needs of the children,” Leonardo A. Lanzona, an economics professor at the Ateneo De Manila, said in a Messenger chat on Thursday.

He called for a more decentralized education system, to address the conditions that stifle the progress of students.

University of the Philippines School of Labor and Industrial Relations Assistant Professor Benjamin B. Velasco said the country’s education outcomes reflect its relatively low public education budget.

“We fall significantly below the recommended 6% of GDP (gross domestic product). This translates to lack of books, gadgets, rooms etc.,” he said in a Messenger chat on Thursday.

The education sector received a P1.055-trillion allocation in the 2025 national budget.

Analysts also warned that deteriorating learning outcomes threaten the Philippines’ workforce development, and raises the risk of producing a larger pool of unskilled workers.

“The workers become vulnerable to newer technologies, creating pool of unskilled and untrained workforce,” Mr. Lanzona said.

Mr. Lanzona added that without proper training and education, the country cannot fully participate in the global market as the workforce may fail to meet the demands of international competition.

For his part, Mr. Velasco said the lack of foundational skills, from basic to higher education, directly undermines the country’s ability to build a digitally capable workforce.

He warned that the business process outsourcing industry, as well as professions such as nursing and seafaring, could face long‑term disadvantages if reading and comprehension levels continue to lag.

“Teachers are trained through the current education system which is under performing. Thus, we produce less than satisfactory teachers who will fail in properly educating the next generation. So this is a vicious cycle,” Mr. Velasco said.