EDCOM 2: 45% of Davao City learners are struggling readers at start of school year

Forty-five percent of learners assessed in Davao City at the start of school year 2026-2027 were classified as struggling readers, according to Department of Education (DepEd) data analysed by the Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM 2), Philstar reported.

Across Region XI, the share was 48 percent. EDCOM 2 based its figures on DepEd's Comprehensive Rapid Literacy Assessment (CRLA), conducted when classes opened in June, and shared its analysis on Tuesday, October 27, as it called on local governments to help close literacy gaps in the region.

Struggling readers are those placed in the assessment's two lowest levels, known as low emerging and high emerging. Under DepEd guidelines, low-emerging readers have limited mastery of letters and their sounds, while high-emerging readers recognise most letters but still have difficulty decoding words at their grade level.

Results from the previous school year showed wide differences between localities. In Talaingod, Davao del Norte, 49.6 percent of Grade 1 to 3 pupils, or 1,184 children, remained struggling readers in the end-of-year assessment in March, roughly twice the rate of any other municipality in the region.

"Every child who continues to struggle with reading needs timely support," EDCOM 2 Executive Director Karol Mark Yee said, warning that otherwise learners risk being promoted without fully understanding their lessons.

The Davao figures are close to the national picture. EDCOM 2 said 45 percent of students assessed nationwide at the start of the current school year were struggling readers. The data also showed reading proficiency declining in higher grades, from 30.52 percent in Grade 3 to 19.56 percent in Grade 6, 0.74 percent in Grade 10 and 0.40 percent in Grade 12.

DepEd said in May that struggling readers across all grade levels dropped from 6.7 million at the start of school year 2025-2026 to 2.2 million by its end, crediting intensified learning recovery programs.

EDCOM 2 has been pressing local executives to take a bigger role in basic education. In March, it released a playbook for mayors on managing schooling in their areas, which also ranked school divisions by their share of struggling readers. All 10 divisions with the highest shares at the start of last school year were in Mindanao, the commission said at the time.