Senator Sherwin Gatchalian on Monday said the latest findings from the Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM 2) confirm that the country’s education crisis remains unresolved and requires urgent national action.
According to Gatchalian, the continued drop in learner proficiency shows that reforms have yet to deliver the scale of improvement needed to protect students from long-term learning losses.
“We already allocated significant resources under the historic education budget for this year, which includes investments for early childhood care and development and learning recovery through the ARAL Program,” he said.
“At this point, we must ensure that the funds we have allocated for education will strengthen the foundation of our students, enhance their abilities, and bring an end to the crisis we continue to face,” the lawmaker added.
According to the senator, failure to translate investments into outcomes would allow the crisis to persist despite unprecedented funding.
Data analyzed by EDCOM 2 for its final report scheduled for release on Jan. 26, 2026, show that learner proficiency begins at a low level and deteriorates further as students advance through school.
Results from the 2024 Early Language, Literacy, and Numeracy Assessment showed that only 30.52 percent of Grade 3 learners reached proficiency, indicating widespread difficulty with basic skills.
By Grade 6, proficiency dropped to 19.56 percent based on the 2024 National Achievement Test, meaning only about one in five students met expected standards.
The decline became more severe in high school, with just 1.36 percent of Grade 10 students and 0.4 percent of Grade 12 students rated at least proficient.
EDCOM 2 said the trend reflects weak mastery of foundational competencies in early grades, a problem that deepens into significant learning gaps over time.
The commission added that the findings highlight the urgency of aligning education spending, policy, and implementation to reverse the country’s learning crisis.
