The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) has conducted the 2024 Functional Literacy, Education, and Mass Media Survey (FLEMMS), which aims to gather data as bases in determining the state of literacy in the country.

The 2024 FLEMMS adopts a revised operational definition and methodology for measuring basic and functional literacy as approved by the PSA Board through Resolution No. 13, Series of 2024.

Davao Region’s basic literacy rate is at 90.3 percent

Basic literacy is the ability of a person to read and write a simple message in any language or dialect with understanding, and to compute or perform basic mathematical operations. Basic literacy rate is computed for individuals 5 years old and over.

The 2024 FLEMMS results revealed that 90.3 percent or 9 out of 10 Davaoeños aged 5 years and over had basic literacy. This translates to approximately 4.58 million Davaoeños aged 5 years and over who can read, write, and compute or perform basic mathematical operations out of the estimated 5.07 million Davaoeños in the same age group. (Figure 1 and Table 1)

Across provinces and one highly urbanized city (HUC) in the region, the basic literacy rate was highest in the City of Davao at 93.5 percent, followed by Davao de Oro at 91.3 percent, these two have a basic literacy rate higher than the regional estimate. On the other hand, Davao Occidental has the lowest basic literacy rate at 74.2 percent. 

In terms of sex, females aged 5 years old and over showed a higher basic literacy rate at 91.1 percent compared to males in the same age range at 89.4 percent. Additionally, across provinces and HUC in the region, females aged 5 years and older showed a higher basic literacy rate compared to males. (Figure 2 and Table 1)

In Davao Region, the proportion of individuals who cannot read, and write, or who are illiterate, is 7.1 percent

About 7.1 percent or 7 out of 100 Davaoeños aged 5 years and over are illiterate, or one who cannot read and write, and 2.7 percent or about 3 out of 100 individuals aged 5 years and over are low literate, or one who can read and write only. (Figure 3 and Table 2)

 

6 out of 9 Davaoeños are functionally literate

Functional literacy is the ability of a person to read, write, compute, and comprehend.  In addition to the basic literacy skills, functional literacy includes higher level of comprehension skills, such as integrating two or more pieces of information and making inferences based on the given information. Unlike the basic literacy rate, which is computed for individuals aged 5 and above, the functional literacy rate is computed for individuals aged 10 to 64.

The functional literacy rate of Davao Region in 2024 was recorded at 66.7 percent, or about 6 out of 9 individuals aged 10 to 64 years old were functionally literate. This translates to around 2.77 million individuals aged 10 to 64 years who can read, write, compute, and comprehend out of the estimated 4.16 million Davaoeños in the same age group. (Figure 4 and Table 3)

Across provinces and one HUC in the region, the functional literacy rate was highest in the City of Davao at 69.6 percent, followed by Davao del Norte at 69.0 percent. These two have a basic literacy rate higher than the regional estimate. On the other hand, Davao Occidental has the lowest functional literacy rate at 46.6 percent.

Similar to the basic literacy rate, females showed a higher functional literacy rate at 70.3 percent compared to males at 63.2 percent. By Province and HUC, females showed a higher functional literacy rate compared to males. (Figure 5 and Table 3)
 

For every 100 individuals aged 10 to 64 years who can read, write, and compute, 26 individuals have comprehension difficulty

Figure 5 shows the basic and functional literacy rates of Davaoeños aged 10 to 64 years old. The difference between the basic and functional literacy rates represents the percentage of individuals aged 10 to 64 years who are basic literate but experience comprehension difficulties.

For Davaoeños aged 10 to 64, the basic literacy rate is 93.1%, while the functional literacy rate is 66.7%, showing a gap of 26.4 percentage points. This indicates that for every 100 individuals aged 10 to 64 who can read, write, and compute, 26 individuals have comprehension difficulty. (Figure 6 and Table 4)

The gap between basic literacy and functional literacy was highest in the provinces/HUC of Davao Oriental with 30.7 percentage points, City of Davao with 29.3 percentage points, and Davao del Norte with 28 percentage points.
 

APPROVED FOR RELEASE:

BABY JEAN P. ALID
(Chief Administrative Officer)
Officer-In-Charge
Regional Statistical Services Office XI