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Release Date :
Reference Number :
2020-422

 

Functional Literacy

Filipinos 10 to 64 years old who are exposed to different forms of mass media registered high functional literacy rates in 2019, according to the results of 2019 Functional Literacy, Education, and Mass Media Survey (FLEMMS).

Among different forms of mass media, functional literacy rate ranged from 92.6 percent, for those who watched television, to 97.1 percent, for those who used internet for research work and email. Generally, females posted higher functional literacy rate than males across different forms of mass media exposed to. (Table 1)

In 2019, Filipinos 10 to 64 years old typically watched television (96.0%), made calculations (80.3%), and listened to radio (75.2%). Surfing the internet for research work and e-mail (63.6%), reading a newspaper (63.3%), and writing a report/correspondence (43.9%) were the least mass media exposure they do. (Table 2)

 

Exposure to forms of mass media: urban vs. rural

In urban areas, Filipinos 10 to 64 years old mostly watched television (97.3%), surfed the internet through social media (82.5%), and made calculations (80.4%). They were least exposed to reading a newspaper (68.6%), attending meetings (67.2%), and writing a report/correspondence (47.0%).

In rural areas, high exposure to television (94.4%), calculations (80.2%) and radio (74.7%) were typical for them. They were least exposed to reading a newspaper (56.5%), surfing the internet for research work and e-mail (52.3%), and writing a report/correspondence (40.0%) in 2019. (Table 2)

 

73.9% of Filipinos age 10 to 64 years old surf the Internet for social media

Filipinos 10 to 64 years old used the internet more frequently for social media (73.9%) than for research work and e-mail (63.6%). This also held true between urban and rural areas, between sexes, and across age groups.

Among regions, the National Capital Region (NCR) had the highest proportion of Filipinos 10 to 64 years old who used the internet for both purposes. On the other hand, Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) had the lowest. Among age groups, most Filipinos who used the internet the most for both purposes were aged 15 to 24 years old. (Table 3)

 

Mass media exposure of Filipinos 10 to 30 years old enrolled in 2019

Typically, Filipinos 10 to 30 years old who were enrolled in school in 2019 watched television (97.2%), read a magazine (88.8%), and surfed the internet for social media (86.8%). Writing a report/correspondence (62.7%), attending meetings (61.9%), and reading a newspaper (59.7%) were the least mass media exposure they do.

In urban areas, Filipinos 10 to 30 years old attending school in 2019 mostly watched television (97.8%), surfed the internet for social media (92.9%), and read a magazine (88.0%). They were least exposed to writing a report/correspondence (63.2%), attending meetings (62.8%), and reading a newspaper (61.1%).

 

In rural areas, high exposure to television (96.5%), magazines (89.8%), and calculations (81.9%) was observed. The least exposure was also noted in writing a report/correspondence (62.1%), attending meetings (61.0%), and reading newspaper (57.9%). (Table 4)

Figure 2

 

Filipino students 10 to 30 years old used the internet more frequently for social media (86.8%) than for research work and e-mail (81.4%). This was observed in urban and rural areas, between sexes, and among age groups.

Among regions, the NCR had the highest proportion of Filipinos 10 to 30 years old currently attending school who used the internet for both purposes, while BARMM had the lowest. Among age groups, Filipino students who used the internet most frequently for both purposes belong to the age group 26 to 30 years old. (Table 5)

 

Ownership and usage of ICT devices1, and Open Distance Learning2

In 2019, most Filipino households owned cellular phones (86.8%) and televisions (79.9%). On the other hand, about only two out of five (41.4%) households had a personal computer, or broadband internet/Fiber internet/DSL. (Table 6)

About 96.1 percent of Filipino households owned at least one ICT device and used it mostly for learning (73.8%). Moreover, about six out of ten (66.2%) households had at least household member familiar with open distance learning. Familiar or not with open distance learning, about eight out of ten (82.4%) households expressed willingness to engage in the learning system, if given the chance without restrictions. (Table 7)

The FLEMMS 2019 is a nationwide household-based survey and one of the designated statistical activities of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) by virtue of Executive Order 352.

 

 

DENNIS S. MAPA, Ph.D.
Undersecretary
National Statistician and Civil Registrar General

 

1 ICT stands for information and communications technologies, e.g., personal computer (desktop, laptop, netbook, iPad, iPod, tablet), cellular phone, cable (e.g., SKY cable, Destiny, Cignal, etc.), television, radio, and broadband internet/fiber internet/DSL.

2 Open distance learning is a system of learning which combines the methodology of distance education with concepts of open learning and flexible learning.

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