Apples and oranges, or lemons?

Don’t compare apples and oranges. This, in gist, was the official rejoinder of Department of Education (DepEd) over the reported 18.9 million Filipino students classified as “functionally illiterate” even if they graduated from high school.

The reported millions of Filipino high school graduates found to be “functionally illiterate” came out during the public hearing of the Senate committee on basic education last April 30.

Chaired by Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, the Senate committee received this report on the Functional Literacy, Education and Mass Media Survey (FLEMMS) conducted by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) in 2024. The PSA’s FLEMMS is a nationwide household-based survey conducted every five years since 1989 by virtue of Executive Order 352. The 2024 survey is the seventh in the series of functional literacy surveys following its last round in 2019.

In the 2024 survey, the PSA reported the FLEMMS found that almost 19 million senior high school graduates between 2019 to 2024 were “functionally illiterate,” or lack the capacity to comprehend or understand what they read. The survey came up with the figure because of the PSA’s updated definition of “functional literacy.” In the past, the PSA defined “basic literacy” as “the ability of a person to read and write a simple message in any language or dialect with understanding, and to compute or perform basic mathematical operations.”

As PSA re-defined it, “functional literacy” is “the ability of a person to read, write, compute and comprehend.  In addition to the basic literacy skills, functional literacy includes higher level of comprehension skills, such as integrating two or more pieces of information and making inferences based on the given information.”

Using the old definition, PSA found that there are 79.135 million Filipinos who are functionally literate in 2024. Under the new definition, which raises the standards on comprehension, the figure went down to 60.17 million. This results in a discrepancy of 18.965 million students who are actually “functionally” illiterate.

This is where the DepEd took issue with the PSA’s FLEMMS that stirred an uproar among the country’s education stakeholders, including lawmakers themselves. In a position paper issued last Monday, DepEd Undersecretary Ronald Mendoza decried newspaper (not The STAR) “headlines have inaccurately claimed that 18.9 million high school graduates in 2024 cannot comprehend.”

In his seven-page position paper for the DepEd, Mendoza sought to untangle the conflicting definitions that caused the confusion and indignation to many, including those in DepEd.

In particular, he pointed to certain data presented at the Senate hearing. “However, some clarifications are in order, as some of the figures appear to have been misinterpreted,” Mendoza pointed out.

“Some media outlets attached the revised definition to the old data, attempting to compare apples (the past data) and an orange (the revised 2024 calculation). This is incorrect and gives the impression of a large decline in literacy – when in fact literacy rates increased between 2019 and 2024 based on both the old and the new definitions,” Mendoza explained.

To properly compare trends in functional literacy over time, rates using the old definition must be updated using PSA’s revised methodology, Mendoza pointed out. At the Senate hearing, he noted, the PSA analysis revealed that under their new methodology, only 61.7 percent of Filipinos were functionally literate in 2019.

“This finding suggests that the share of functionally literate Filipinos increased from 61.7 percent in 2019 to 70 percent in 2024, equivalent to approximately 11 million more Filipinos considered functionally literate based on PSA’s 2024 definition,” Mendoza explained.

The DepEd though expressed its appreciation to the PSA and the EdCom2, or the Congressional Commission on Education-2, for highlighting the dire need to boost the country’s functional literacy. “Make no mistake, we still need to pursue deep reforms to reach many Filipinos who are still falling through the cracks in terms of achieving functional literacy,” Mendoza cited.

Mendoza is the DepEd undersecretary for strategic management where he leads policy, planning and monitoring and evaluation. With a doctorate degree affixed to his name, Mendoza previously served as dean and professor of Economics at the Ateneo School of Government. The DepEd recognized Mendoza’s “significant contributions to public administration” in 25 years in governance, economic development and institutional reforms.

Through Mendoza, former senator and now Education Secretary Sonny Angara sought to enlighten his former colleagues at the Senate led by Gatchalian, who co-chairs the EdCom2. Angara decided not to complete his second and last term at the Senate and accepted to join the Cabinet of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. (PBBM). Angara took over the helm of DepEd in July last year following the resignation from the Cabinet of Vice President Sara Duterte.

EdCom2 was created under Republic Act 11899 in July 2022, with the mandate of conducting a “comprehensive national assessment and evaluation of the performance of the Philippine education sector.” As such, it can recommend “transformative, concrete and targeted reforms in the sector with the end in view of making the Philippines globally competitive in both education and labor markets” in the next three years, from 2023 to 2025. The EDCOM II’s Year Two Report titled “Fixing the Foundations” was submitted to the 19th Congress in January this year.

“Secretary Sonny Angara has long emphasized that literacy must be at the core of DepEd’s educational reforms, highlighting the department’s commitment to addressing this issue and equipping learners for their future,” Mendoza stressed.

Mendoza reiterated the commitment of DepEd to carry out the reforms as outlined in the Quality Basic Education Development Plan 2025-2035 adopted by the PBBM administration. “With the ultimate goal of empowering Filipinos and enhancing their employability,” Mendoza vowed DepEd’s initiatives to combat illiteracy among learners.

“There are no easy fixes, and we need to continue to raise awareness on the need to dramatically boost investments to move the needle on functional literacy among Filipinos,” Mendoza admitted.

“It helps to get our facts straight, so we know we’re on the right path,” the DepEd official added.

While it’s not apples and oranges, DepEd should try to produce lemonade from lemons.