86 percent of Filipinos are literate – NSO

BAGUIO CITY, Philippines – The National Statistics Office (NSO) central office revealed that 58 million out of the estimated 67 million Filipinos aged 10 to 64 years old are functionally literate, meaning they can read, write, compute, and comprehend.

Based on the 2008 Functional Literacy, Education, and Mass Media Survey (FLEMMS), whose results were released this month and presented by NSO Administrator Carmelita Ericta at the 2010 National Literacy Conference and Awards here, the functional literacy of over 86.5 percent is slightly higher than the 2003 FLEMMS results which was at 84.1 percent.

The latest survey showed that literacy is much higher among those who had completed high school or higher education.

Ericta said the National Capital Region (NCR) has the highest functional literacy rate at 94.0 percent followed by the Cavite-Batangas-Laguna-Rizal-Quezon (CALABARZON) – 93.5 percent and Central Luzon at 92.1 percent.

The Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) ranked fifth with a functional literacy rate of 89.2 percent.

On the other hand, the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) had the lowest functional literacy rate at 71.6 percent.

At the same time, the latest survey showed females are functionally literate than their male counterparts with a rate of 84.2 percent.

Despite the high literacy figures among Filipinos, the NSO officials stressed the country still needs a yearly 3 percent increase in functional literacy for the Philippines to be able to achieve the United Nations Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of providing a primary “education for all.”

Records show that 20 million or 25 percent of the estimated 80 million Filipino population attended elementary education but about 13 percent were not able to finish or did not proceed with a high school education.

For those who were able to land in high school, 16 percent did not finish secondary education.

Out of the estimated 39 million Filipinos aged 6-24 years old, 32 percent of them are not attending school because they cannot afford it, 22  percent are working while 20 percent simply lack interest to pursue a higher degree of education.

Moreover, the survey cited television remains the most influential mass media medium to Filipinos with 94 percent viewership followed by radio with 90 percent and magazines and newspapers with 83 percent. Only 43 percent of the respondents confirmed that Internet is the most influential medium.

Because of the findings of the latest survey, the Department of Education and other concerned government agencies have decided to strengthen their advocacy programs on functional literacy in order to convince people, especially those living in the countryside, to avail of the services being provided them to acquire literacy in whatever means. –DEXTER A. SEE, Manila Bulletin