27-05-2025
Pasay, San Juan score highest literacy rate in 2024 —PSA
Pasay City scored the highest basic literacy rate while San Juan City recorded the highest functional literacy rate among highly urbanized cities in 2024, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
Based on PSA's 2024 Functional Literacy, Education and Mass Media Survey (FLEMMS) report, basic literacy is the ability of a person to read and write a simple message with understanding and to compute or perform basic mathematical operations.
Meanwhile, functional literacy is the ability of a person to read, write, compute, and comprehend. This skill includes a higher level of comprehension.
In the 2024 FLEMMS, Pasay logged a 96.2% basic literacy rate. This means around 96 of 100 individuals five years old and above in the city can read, write, and compute.
Pasay was followed by Cagayan de Oro City (96.1%), San Juan City (95.50%), Pasig City (95.50%), and Mandaue City (95.2%).
Meanwhile, San Juan recorded a 94.5% functional literacy rate, or about 95 out of 100 individuals in the city can read, write, compute, and comprehend.
San Juan was followed by Baguio City (89.8%), Pasig City (89.1%), Pateros (88.1%), and Makati City (87.3%).
Among the provinces in the Philippines, Apayao garnered the highest basic literacy with 95.2%, while Benguet recorded the highest functional literacy with 87.9%.
Completing the Top 5 provinces with the highest basic literacy are Romblon (94.6%), Nueva Ecija (94.23%), Bohol (94.22%), and Rizal (94.20%).
Second to the highest functional literacy rate is Rizal (82.1%), followed by Romblon (81.9%), Batangas (81.3%), and Siquijor (80.0%).
2024 FLEMMS reported that for every 100 individuals 5 years old and over, about 95 individuals can read, write, and compute in Apayao.
Out of 100 individuals 10 to 64 years old, about 88 can read, write, compute, and comprehend in Benguet.
Meanwhile, Tawi-Tawi (30.5%), Davao Occidental (21%), Basilan (19.8%), Northern Samar (19.5%), and Sarangani (15.7%) got the highest illiteracy rates, respectively.
The FLEMMS is a household-based nationwide survey conducted every five years.
The 2024 FLEMMS is the seventh in the series of literacy surveys in the country that started in 1989. It was conducted from September to October 2024.—LDF, GMA Integrated News
