EDCOM 2 Dashboard Shows 10 Percent of Grades 1 to 3 Pupils Are Struggling Readers
EDCOM 2 – One in every 10 learners in Grades 1 to 3 is still struggling to read, based on data from the Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM 2), The Philippine Star reported on Tuesday, October 27, 2026.
The figure comes from the end-of-school-year (EOSY) 2025-2026 results of the Department of Education’s Comprehensive Rapid Literacy Assessment (CRLA), which covered 5,127,670 learners in 48,255 schools. The data are now part of EDCOM 2’s new Early Childhood Dashboard.
By region, the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) had the highest share of struggling readers at 25.5 percent. It was followed by Soccsksargen at 17.7 percent and the Zamboanga Peninsula at 14.7 percent. Bicol came next at 12 percent, then Davao Region at 11.7 percent and Mimaropa at 11.3 percent.
The Cordillera Administrative Region and the National Capital Region posted the lowest rates, at 5.3 percent each. Calabarzon recorded 6.7 percent, Eastern Visayas 7.2 percent and Central Luzon 7.9 percent.
The report also noted that only 25 percent of senior high school learners in Davao City were classified as independent readers, based on the Senior High School Learning Needs Assessment for the same school year.
What the dashboard does
According to EDCOM 2, the Early Childhood Dashboard puts together three sets of government data: stunting among children aged zero to two from the National Nutrition Council’s Operation Timbang Plus 2025, barangays without a Child Development Center from the DILG’s Community-Based Monitoring System, and DepEd’s CRLA reading results. Nationwide, it shows that 4.3 percent of children aged 0 to 2 are stunted and 11 percent of barangays have no Child Development Center.
The commission said the tool is meant to help local government units, schools and civil society groups focus their nutrition, early education and reading programs where they are needed most. The dashboard shows school-level data and turns figures red when a local rate is worse than the national average.
Under the CRLA, struggling readers are learners classified as low or high emerging readers. EDCOM 2 has said the goal is for every child to read at grade level by the end of Grade 3, so they do not fall behind in later grades.
Source: The Philippine Star, The Freeman, EDCOM 2