From DepEd Communications Division
4 MAY 2025 – The Functional Literacy, Education and Mass Media Survey (FLEMMS) is a national survey that gathers information on the basic and functional literacy rates, and the educational skills qualifications of the population. Recently, the Philippine Statistics Authority released the 2024 results, which were also tackled in various fora including EDCOM2.
The results show that the Philippines maintains a strong basic literacy rate of 93.1% among individuals aged 10 to 64 years old. This underscores the country’s success in ensuring that the vast majority of Filipinos can read, write, and compute—important foundational skills. However, the 2024 data include an adjustment that raises the bar on literacy to include high-level comprehension skills. Using this revised measure, the functional literacy rate is about 70.8 percent. Simply put, around seven out of ten Filipinos possess high-level comprehension skills to process and apply information effectively in daily life.
Strong media coverage can help PSA and EDCOM2 raise greater awareness of the need to invest in functional literacy. However, some clarifications are in order, as some of the figures appear to have been misinterpreted.
Recent headlines 1,2,3,4,5,6 have inaccurately claimed that 18.9 million high school graduates in 2024 cannot comprehend based on the 2024 Functional Literacy, Education, and Mass Media Survey (FLEMMS). The 2024 FLEMMS data as presented in the Senate Hearing by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) last April 30, 2025 actually indicates that 18.9 million Filipinos aged 10 to 64 are classified as functionally illiterate—meaning they can read, write, and compute but struggle with comprehension, regardless of their educational attainment.
This figure represents a broad segment of the population (i.e., 10-64 age range), not only high school graduates of the Department of Education (DepEd) system. For example, the total number of Junior High School (JHS) and Senior High School (SHS) learners for SY 2024-2025 is only about 11.6 million making it incorrect to attribute the full 18.9 million figure solely to high school graduates. Additionally, among 18-year-olds who are expected to graduate or have graduated SHS, 80% (or 1.5 million out of 1.9 million) ARE functionally literate, providing a more accurate estimate of literacy levels among Senior High School graduates of SY 2024-2025.
1 Manila Bulletin. (2025, April 30). 18M functionally illiterate Filipino graduates. Retrieved from https://mb.com.ph/2025/4/30/18- m-functionally-illiterate-filipino-graduates
2 Business Mirror. (2025, May 1). 18 million senior high students not functionally literate – latest FLEMMS by PSA. Retrieved from https://businessmirror.com.ph/2025/05/01/18-million-senior-high-students-not-functionally-literate-latest-flemms-by-psa/
3 Rappler. (2025, April 30). 18 million Filipino high school graduates functionally illiterate – PSA. Retrieved from https://www.rappler.com/philippines/filipino-high-school-graduates-functionally-illiterate-psa-survey-2024/
4 GMA News Online. (2025, April 30). Over 18M Filipino high school graduates can’t comprehend – 2024 PSA study. Retrieved from https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/topstories/nation/944513/over-18m-filipino-high-school-graduates-can-t-comprehend-
5 Inquirer.net. (2025, May 1). PSA study: 19M senior high school grads functionally illiterate. Retrieved from https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/2057100/psa-study-19m-senior-high-school-grads-functional-illiterate 6 Philstar Life. (2025, May 1). Over 18 million high school graduates cannot comprehend – PSA study. Retrieved from https://philstarlife.com/news-and-views/419938-over-18-million-high-school-graduates-cannot-comprehend?page=2
Please read the full Press Release here.