Manila, April 30 -- Senate Committee on Basic Education Chairperson Senator Sherwin Gatchalian on Wednesday underscored the urgency of tackling the country's literacy crisis, citing the initial findings of the 2024 Functional Literacy, Education and Mass Media Survey (FLEMMS).

Latest FLEMMS data showed that while basic literacy stood at 93.1 percent for those aged 10 to 64, functional literacy which includes reading, writing, computing, and comprehension, plunged to 70.8 percent under new PSA definitions.

This shift reflected a recalibration in literacy measurement, from the older benchmark of reading and writing to a more rigorous standard that includes understanding and numeracy.

Speaking during the committee's public hearing, Gatcha...