Nearly half of Davao City's early-grade pupils slip back to lowest reading levels

About 45 percent of Grade 1 to 3 learners in Davao City public schools were at the lowest reading proficiency levels at the start of School Year 2026-2027, even though the share had dropped to 9 percent by the end of the previous school year, according to the Second Congressional Commission on Education (Edcom 2), as reported by SunStar.

In a Facebook post on October 25, Edcom 2 cited the Department of Education's (DepEd) Comprehensive Rapid Literacy Assessment (CRLA). Of 83,559 learners assessed in the city, 29,109 were rated "Low Emerging" and 9,119 "High Emerging," a combined 38,228. Only 10,972, or 13 percent, were "Grade Level Ready." The commission said the figures raise questions about whether gains were kept over the school break.

Davao City Schools Division Superintendent Reynante Solitario said struggling readers fell from about 39,750 at the start of SY 2025-2026 to 8,064 by its end. He credited DepEd's Academic Recovery and Accessible Learning (Aral) Program and school-based reading interventions, and said the division ranked third among 11 Region 11 division offices with the lowest share of struggling readers. "The 45% figure is not the end of our story," Solitario wrote, calling it a starting point for another year of work.

Solitario also said only 25 percent of Davao City's Grade 11 learners were independent readers at the end of SY 2025-2026, while 46 percent were at the frustration level.

Region-wide, 48 percent of 258,630 assessed learners were at the two "Emerging" levels and 12 percent were grade-level ready. Nationally, 45 percent of more than five million learners were at the two lowest levels.

Edcom 2 Executive Director Dr. Karol Mark Yee told local media the learning crisis built up over years of neglect and follows students into higher grades, with some Grade 8 and 9 learners unable to read a sentence or paragraph. He urged local governments to get involved, saying improvement is bigger where mayors personally monitor school reading progress.

Yee also asked universities with teacher education programs to provide tutors for DepEd's hour-long afternoon literacy sessions, and encouraged barangays and parishes to hold book drives, noting that many Filipino families have no books at home.

Edcom 2's dashboard also showed Davao City has 13 barangays, or 7.1 percent, without a Child Development Center, and 2,244 stunted children, or 4.7 percent, above the national rate of 4.3 percent for children up to two years old.