New survey on literacy set this year

The government will conduct a new survey to assess the country’s literacy level to update the last one administered in 2003.

Education Undersecretary for Regional Operations Ramon Bacani, chairman of the Literacy Coordinating Council (LCC), said government agencies led by the National Statistics Office (NSO) will mobilize sometime in the second quarter for the 2008 Functional Literacy, Education, and Mass Media Survey (FLEMMS).

“We will have a FLEMMS at the latter part of the year,” Bacani said during the launching of the LCC’s National Literacy Awards at the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization-Innotech office in Quezon City.

According to the 2003 FLEMMS, the country’s simple literacy rate was at 93 percent, while the functional literacy rate was at 84 percent.

The LCC defines functional literacy as the range of skills and competencies that enable a person to develop his potentials, make critical and informed decisions, and function effectively in society.

The LCC decided to bring back the National Literacy Awards to recognize the efforts of individuals and groups to promote literacy, especially in the countryside.

The LCC was created by virtue of Republic Act 7165 on Nov. 25, 1991 to be the overall advisory and coordinating body to provide policy and program directions and recommend strategies to totally eradicate illiteracy in the country.