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Bella Cariaso - The Philippine Star
June 18, 2025 | 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines — The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warned of a “real and widespread learning crisis” in the Philippines, as recent findings revealed that a vast majority of students are falling significantly behind in reading and mathematics.
Citing data from a 2019 study, UNICEF Education chief Akihiro Fushimi said that 90 percent of Filipino children in Grade 5 cannot read at their expected level, while 83 percent continue to struggle with basic mathematics.
“This is a real and widespread learning crisis,” Fushimi stressed during a press conference in Makati City.
He noted that learning gaps have widened further in areas such as the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), where education outcomes are even lower.
The study’s findings predate the COVID-19 pandemic, which Fushimi said worsened the problem due to prolonged school closures and limited access to alternative learning, particularly among disadvantaged communities.
“With COVID-19, we know the Philippines has faced a two-year-long school closure. During this time, many children, particularly those in disadvantaged communities and families, could not access the alternate modes of learning,” Fushimi said.
UNICEF estimates show that by Grade 4, Filipino children typically demonstrate literacy and numeracy skills equivalent to only Grade 1 or 2, indicating a two-year learning delay. In BARMM, this gap is reportedly worse.
Aside from pandemic-related disruptions, Fushimi said recurring natural disasters, aggravated by climate change, have further derailed students’ learning progress.
“100 percent of schools in the country are at risk of being affected positively and negatively by the natural disasters, including hurricanes, floods, local eruptions, earthquakes and so on. And that also adds up to this learning poverty, learning crisis,” he noted.
To address the crisis, UNICEF is urging the government to invest in foundational learning, starting with early childhood education.
“From as early as three to four years old, before they enter kindergarten, we have to invest in their health, nutrition and education and learning, and so on, to smoothly function into private education and basic education,” said Fushimi.
1.7 million kids malnourished
As education experts call for better learning systems, another UN agency underscored how poor nutrition remains a major barrier to academic success.
The World Food Program (WFP) on Tuesday reported that at least 1.7 million public school children in the Philippines remain malnourished, which contributes to poor academic performance nationwide.
WFP deputy country director Dipayan Bhattacharyya said that while the government’s current school feeding program addresses undernutrition, it falls short in tackling broader nutrition issues like micronutrient deficiencies, obesity and overweight, which are also on the rise among Filipino students.
He emphasized that many children suffer from iron, vitamin and zinc deficiencies, which impact both learning and long-term health.
A more comprehensive school feeding program, Bhattacharyya said, could address these issues while reducing future public health costs.
“If we choose the right kind of food, that will save the government’s money, which they otherwise would have to spend on addressing those public health concerns. That’s why we are talking about a way…that can really address malnutrition, not simply undernutrition,” he said.
The WFP is calling on the government to revisit and amend Republic Act 11037, or the Masustansyang Pagkain para sa Batang Pilipino Act, which guides supplemental feeding programs under the Department of Education, Department of Social Welfare and Development and the National Nutrition Council.
Bhattacharyya also stressed the importance of addressing chronic poverty and malnutrition as underlying barriers to improving educational outcomes, noting that nutrition interventions must be aligned with long-term learning goals.
