Amid findings that show a steep decline in student proficiency nationwide, the Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM 2) has called for the immediate end of mass promotions of students, where teachers are pressured to pass unqualified learners to meet administrative performance targets.
Citing the Comprehensive Rapid Literacy Assessment for school year 2024-2025, the report “Turning Point: A Decade of Necessary Reforms” revealed that 48.76 percent of learners are not reading at grade level by Grade 3. While 30.5 percent of students are proficient at that stage, mastery steadily weakens as learners advance, dropping to just 0.40 percent by Grade 12.
EDCOM 2 attributed the crisis to multiple systemic failures, including early childhood stunting that affects 23.6 percent of children, limited access to early childhood education, with participation among 3-4 year olds at only 34 percent, and policies that allow learners to advance despite poor mastery.
Learning losses are further aggravated by shortened school years, with students averaging only 191 actual class days, and some regions losing up to 42 days to suspensions and school activities.
“Without addressing these basics, downstream reforms in higher education will fail,” EDCOM 2 said.
“Central to this roadmap is fixing the foundations, which includes the full implementation of the ARAL Program, the immediate end to mass promotion practices, the phaseout of DepEd grade transmutation policies, and a commitment to investing at least five percent of gross domestic product in education, with resources frontloaded to the early years,” the commission added.
EDCOM 2 has formally submitted to the House of Representatives the report, along with the National Education and Workforce Development Plan for 2026 to 2035, a 10-year roadmap aimed at addressing the country’s learning and workforce challenges.
The Department of Education, on its part, has committed to lead the next decade of education reforms, translating long standing recommendations into concrete, time-bound actions for schools, teachers, and learners.
The practice of teachers passing unqualified learners to meet administrative performance targets is a cancer plaguing our educational system that must be excised as soon as possible. It should be a priority for the entire government of the Philippines if it wants a better future for its people.*
