LEARNING BEHIND: Why most Filipino students never reach proficiency

By the time Filipino students reach senior high school, most have already spent over a decade in school — have taken multiple exams, passed subjects, and moved forward from one grade level to the next. Yet, proficiency seemingly remains stuck, not advancing with them as they move from one grade to another.

According to the Final Report of the Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOMM II), only 0.40% of Grade 12 students — about four in every 1,000 — meet the standards expected at the end of senior high school, approaching tertiary education. 

A learning pattern that worsens across time

In 2016, the Department of Education (DepEd) began administering the Early Language, Literacy, and Numeracy Assessment and the National Achievement Test (NAT) to monitor students’ proficiency in learning areas.

These assessments aimed to check if the students have met the learning standards at key stages, including Grades 3, 6, 10, and 12. Under these tests, scores are grouped into four categories.

• Proficient or highly proficient – at least 75%
• Nearly proficient – 50% to 74%
• Low proficient – below 50%
• Not proficient – far below expected mastery

Across all grade levels, EDCOM II noted that most students fall under low proficient or not proficient at all, with the share of proficient students shrinking as students move up the system At grade 3, only 30.5% of students are proficient. By grade 6, proficiency drops 19.56%. In grade 10, it falls below 1%. By grade 12, it reaches only 0.40%. 

In September 2025, DepEd revealed the distribution of learners across proficiency levels through the NAT assessment for Grade 12 students nationwide. DepEd recorded:

• 0.40% (6,518) proficient students
• 25.47% (410,596) nearly proficient students
• 69.10% (1,113,757) low proficient students
• 5.02% (80,938) not proficient students

Overall, only 6,518 students were proficient out of 1.6 million nationwide.

When basic skills remain out of reach

Proficiency refers to one’s ability to read with understanding, solve problems, manage information, and explain ideas clearly. These low proficiency levels become a threat to education, as without these skills, students may find it difficult to enter college, as they would need additional help in reading, numeracy, and reasoning. 

If this persists, learning risks being slowed down even further.

According to the EDCOM II, the issue is not simply how much content is taught, but whether students are given the time and support to actually learn and absorb the lessons.

Although there are recent reforms, including the Matatag curriculum and the strengthened senior high school curriculum, which both aim to reduce overloaded lessons — these reforms’ execution further deepens the gaps in learning, as curriculum changes alone will not fix the problem.

“They revise what is supposed to be learned, but they rely on complementary changes in learning recovery, instructional time, teacher workload, and support services to translate into large-scale gains in learner outcomes,” EDCOMM II said.

What is still lacking despite all these reforms is strong recovery programs, enough instructional time, manageable teacher workloads, and targeted help for struggling learners — especially in earlier grade levels, when gaps are easiest to address.

Without these, curriculum changes risk adjusting expectations without improving outcomes.

Rebuilding what comes first

With this, EDCOMM II calls out DepEd for more aggressive remediation programs, such as expanded learning recovery initiatives and better use of the school calendar through the Academic Recovery and Accessible Learning Program.

Under its proposed National Education Plan for 2026 to 2035, the commission sets targets by raising Grades 3 and 12 proficiency to 90% within a decade, starting this year. These goals rest on one central shift by treating foundational learning not just as a preliminary phase to rush through, but as the backbone of the entire educational system.

Until that shift is effectively implemented, the education system will continue to move students forward faster rather than actually teaching them to stand on their own.