The Functional Literacy, Education and Mass Media Survey (FLEMMS) is the fifth in the series of functional literacy surveys conducted by the former National Statistics Office (NSO), now the Philippines Statistics Authority (PSA). The surveys were conducted in 1989, 1994, 2003, 2008, and 2013.

The 2013 FLEMMS is conducted by the PSA in coordination with the Literacy Coordinating Council (LCC) and Department of Education (DepEd).

Basic or simple literacy is 94.9%

• Basic or simple literacy is the ability of a person to read and write with understanding a simple message in any language or dialect.
• In 2013, 96.5 percent of 74 million Filipinos in the Philippines 10 years old and over were basically literate. This was an increase of 0.9 percentage point from the recorded 95.6 percent in 2008.
• In the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), 94.9 percent of the 1.4 million Cordillerans were basically literate, the 13^th among 16 regions who were surveyed.  This was a slight improvement of 0.1 percentage point from the estimated 94.8 percent in 2008.

Functional literacy is 91.2%

• The functional literacy rate of the region in 2013 was 91.2 percent was higher by two percentage points compared to 89.2 percent in 2008.
• There were more functionally literate females than males in the region both in 2008 and 2013. The functional literacy rate among females increased from 89.7 percent in 2008 to 92.9 percent in 2013.  The functional literacy also increased among males from 87.8 percent in 2008 to 92.9 percent in 2013.

About 6 in 100 has no grade completed

• The percentage of population 6 years old and over that had no grade completed decreased from 8.2 percent in 2008 to 6.3 percent in 2013.

• The results of the 2013 FLEMMS further revealed that there were increases in the shares of high school and high school graduates and college level and college graduates in 2013 compared to 2008.

More females attended and finished higher education

• The percentage of among females with no grade completed were slightly higher than males in 2013.  However, the percentage shares among females in post-secondary, college level and college graduate or higher were bigger than those of the males.  The gap even widened as the level of education went higher.

Not attending school is 33.2%

• Qualified respondents were interviewed if household members ages 6 to 24 years old, excluding those who were Overseas Contract Workers (OCW) or Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW), were attending school.

• Result showed that 33.2 percent of the total population of CAR aged 6 to 24 years old were not attending school during the school year covering June 2013 to March 2014.
• The age group 16-24 years old had the highest percentage of not currently attending school with 64.5 percent.

Lack of personal interest is top reason

• The 2013 FLEMMS results also showed that of the 226 thousand 6 to 24 years old in the region not currently attending school, 20.6 percent stated that they lack the interest in attending school.

• The next top reason for not attending school was entering into union or marriage with 18.9 percent share while 16.5 percent said they have finished schooling and another
  16.5 percent cited looking for work.

Out-of-school children and youth is 7.1%

• One in every ten or about 4 million Filipino children and youth was out-of-school in 2013. Out-of-school children is defined in the FLEMMS as persons aged 6 to 14 years who are not attending school while out-of-school youth as persons aged 15 to 24 years who are not attending school, have not finished any college or post-secondary course, and are not working.
• In CAR, the percentage of out-of-school children and youth was lower than the national average with 7.1 percent that translates to more than 48 thousand individuals.
• In general, the proportion of persons who were out-of-school was higher among the youth than among children, and higher among females than male.

Net enrollment ratio highest in primary

• The net enrollment ratio (NER) for primary school age children were estimated at 93.8 percent for the school year covered in the survey.  In secondary education, the NER was 67.1 percent and in tertiary was 22.5 percent.
• The NER among males was higher than females in the primary level.  On the other hand, females were higher than males in the secondary and tertiary levels.

Mode of Travel

• The 2013 FLEMMS also gathered information on the mode of travel of population ages 6 to 24 years old on attending school. Topping the list was walking accessible with transport system by 62.7 percent.
• Students who were taking PUJ/FX/VAN/BUS came second by 25.1 percent trailed by walking with no transportation at 12.2 percent. 
• Students who subscribed to school service registered only at 0.3 percent.

Technical Notes

Basic or Simple Literacy

The ability of a person to read and write with understanding a simple message in any language or dialect. In the survey, basic literacy status of an individual was determined based on the respondents answer to the question “Can ____ read and write a simple message in any language or dialect?”

Functional Literacy

A significantly higher level of literacy which includes not only reading and writing but also numeracy skills. The skills must be sufficiently advanced to enable the individual to participate fully and efficiently in activities commonly occurring in his life situation that require a reasonable capability of communicating by written language. A functional literate person is one who can at least read, write, compute and/or comprehend. Also, persons who graduated from high school or completed higher level of education are classified as functionally literate.

Out-of-School Children and Youth

School age children and youth who are unable to avail of the education opportunities of the normal school system or who dropped out of formal elementary or secondary (RA 9155). Out-of-School children are defined in the FLEMMS as persons aged 6 to 14 years who are not attending school. Out-of-School youth as persons aged 15 to 24 years who are not attending school, have not finished any college or post-secondary course, and are not working.

Highest Educational Attainment

Highest grade or year completed in school, college or university.

Work

Any activity that a person does for pay, profit or without pay on family farm or enterprise or an activity done by a farm operator or member of his family or another farm in “exchange labor” arrangement. In addition, any activity that a person does during the reference period in relation to minor activities considered work.

Net Enrollment Ratio (NER)

Enrollment of the official age-group for a given level of education expressed as a percentage of the corresponding age-group of the population, (UNESCO Institute for Statistics). The purpose of NER is to show the extent of participation in a given level of education. This is a very important indicator in measuring rates of Access of Education when considering gender inequality issues as well as regional or rural/urban inequalities.