Perpetually in literacy crisis? Maybe we need to rethink literacy
The recent news that 87 percent of incoming Grade 12 students struggle with reading proficiency is disturbing. But it also sounds familiar. Every few years, another report tells us that Filipino learners cannot read well or cannot understand what they read. Perhaps we should ask why we seem to be perpetually in literacy crisis.
Almost 20 years ago, psychologist Dr. Allan Bernardo already pointed out a contradiction in how Philippine education is discussed. It is often described as being in crisis, yet Filipino graduates, workers, and even school dropouts are valued in other countries. Teachers are criticized at home, yet Filipino teachers are recruited abroad. This does not mean the literacy crisis is not real. It is real. But it tells us that the problem is more complex than literacy test results suggest.
We also need to rethink what we mean by literacy. Too often, literacy is treated as only one thing: the ability to read and write school texts, usually in English, and usually in preparation for college. Many assessments still seem to assume that all students are headed toward academic pathways where they must read long texts, write essays, and handle abstract language. These are important for college-bound students. But literacy should not be treated only as preparation for college. It should also be preparation for life, work, citizenship, and participation.
Literacy is plural. A common foundation in reading and writing is necessary for all learners. But beyond that foundation, literacy should also be developed in relation to learners’ pathways, languages, and forms of participation in society. A future technician must read manuals, safety procedures, measurements, and diagrams. A caregiver must understand instructions, labels, forms, and human communication. A young entrepreneur must read prices, contracts, customer messages, and online platforms. Artists, artisans, and athletes also use literacy when they read images, tools, patterns, bodies, spaces, rules, audiences, strategies, schedules, contracts, and opportunities.
This is why language matters. If “real” literacy means only formal English or Filipino, many learners will appear weak. Students may understand, explain, and create more powerfully when they use their mother tongue or strongest language. English is important, but it should not be the only doorway to learning. Language should be a bridge, not a wall.
We also need to rethink how we teach literacy. People are more willing to read when they are asked to read ideas they understand, in a language that speaks to their lives. Imagine asking students to create posters, short messages, spoken-word pieces, comics, or social media campaigns in their own language about issues that matter to them: safe spaces, increased support for students, mental health, or the eradication of bullying. In these activities, literacy is not reduced to decoding unfamiliar words in a distant language. It becomes connected to voice, advocacy, identity, and real communication.
At the same time, we should provide alternative pathways for learners whose strengths may lie in other capacities. Some students may struggle with print literacy but learn well through oral explanations, demonstrations, hands-on work, visual materials, peer discussion, digital media, and other multimodal forms.
We must stop mass promotion without support. Students should not be passed from one grade level to another while their literacy needs remain unaddressed. But the answer should not be shame or exclusion. Schools need assessment, bridging programs, reading support, and differentiated interventions.
A learner should not be made to feel inferior because they do not yet have the literacy needed to become a lawyer, scholar, or academic writer. The goal is not to give up on literacy, but to make it more meaningful, multilingual, humane, and connected to life.
Maria Mercedes Arzadon, Ph.D., is a full-time professor at the University of the Philippines, Diliman College of Education. She teaches courses on nonformal education, alternative learning, and anthropology and sociology of education.
