Guimaras ranks high in literacy in Western Visayas

Guimaras emerged as one of the top-performing provinces in Western Visayas in terms of educational performance, ranking second in basic literacy and third in functional literacy, based on the 2024 Functional Literacy, Education and Mass Media Survey (FLEMMS) recently released.

“The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) led the conduct of the 2024 FLEMMS, which was carried out last October,” Provincial Statistics Officer Nelida B. Losare said.

The survey aims to provide a quantitative framework for formulating policies and programs to improve the literacy and education status of the population, she added.

Losare explained that the 2024 FLEMMS adopted a revised operational definition and methodology for estimating basic and functional literacy, as approved by the PSA Board through Resolution No. 13, Series of 2024.

“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,” Losare said.

She further noted that functional literacy is the ability of a person to read, write, compute, and comprehend.

“In addition to basic literacy skills, functional literacy includes higher levels of comprehension, such as integrating two or more pieces of information and making inferences based on given data,” she added.

“Basic literacy rate is computed for individuals age 5 and older, while functional literacy rate is calculated for individuals ages 10 to 64,” Losare said.

With a population of 175,000 individuals age 5 and older, Guimaras posted a basic literacy rate of 91.2%—roughly 9 in every 10 Guimarasnons can read, write with understanding, and perform basic mathematical tasks.

“Guimaras ranks second highest in Region VI, just behind Aklan at 92.1%, and ahead of Antique at 90.1%,” Losare said.

“At the regional level, Western Visayas reported a basic literacy rate of 89.6%, slightly below the national average of 90.0%,” she added.

Basic literacy rates in the provinces of Iloilo (88.6%) and Capiz (89.3%) were below the regional level, while Iloilo City (89.9%) surpassed it.

Data from Guimaras also revealed a gender disparity in basic literacy.

Of the province’s 175,000 individuals age 5 and older, 90,000 were male and 85,000 were female.

Among them, approximately 80,000 males and 79,000 females were classified as basically literate.

“This translates to a basic literacy rate of 89.5% for males and 93.0% for females, resulting in a 3.5 percentage point gender gap in favor of females,” Losare said.

“This pattern mirrors broader regional and national trends, where females consistently demonstrate stronger performance in foundational literacy skills such as reading, writing, and basic computation,” she added.

Guimaras also stood out in Region VI for its low illiteracy rate—only 6.4% of its population is classified as illiterate, lower than the regional average of 7.0%.

Among males in Guimaras, the illiteracy rate is 7.5%, slightly below the regional male rate of 8.1%, while females recorded an even lower rate of 5.2%, outperforming the regional female average of 6.0%.

In terms of low literacy—defined as individuals who can read and write but lack deeper comprehension and computational skills—Guimaras again performs better than most provinces.

Only 2.4% of its population falls into this category, significantly lower than the regional average of 3.4%.

Specifically, 3.0% of males and 2.4% of females in Guimaras are considered low literate, compared to 3.6% and 3.2%, respectively, for the region.

The majority of Guimarasnons are basically literate—those who can read, write with understanding, and compute—with an impressive rate of 91.2%, well above the regional average of 89.6%.

Among males, 89.5% meet the criteria for basic literacy, while females in the province lead with a high of 93.0%, further demonstrating the province’s success in promoting literacy, particularly among women.

Compared with other provinces and highly urbanized cities (HUCs) in Region VI, Guimaras ranks among the top performers.

Its illiteracy rate is one of the lowest, next only to Aklan and the City of Iloilo.

It also ranks second among the lowest literacy rate, following Antique, and places just behind Aklan in basic literacy, reinforcing its reputation for educational strength.

Guimaras performs exceptionally well across all literacy indicators in Region VI.

It maintains lower levels of illiteracy and low literacy while achieving a higher rate of basic literacy, particularly among females.

Moreover, among the working-age group (ages 10 to 64), Guimaras posted a notably high basic literacy rate of 95.1%, surpassing the regional average of 92.8%.

This indicates that a vast majority of its population within the productive age group possesses essential skills in reading, writing, and basic computation—competencies critical for personal and socio-economic advancement.

A closer look reveals that female literacy in Guimaras is remarkably high at 97.6%, the highest among all provinces and HUCs in Western Visayas.

This exceeds the regional female average of 94.4%, suggesting near-universal basic literacy among Guimaras women.

Meanwhile, male literacy in the province stands at 92.8%, also higher than the regional male average of 91.3%.

The gender literacy gap in Guimaras is more pronounced than the regional trend, with females leading by 4.8 percentage points.

In terms of basic literacy for the population aged 10 to 64 years, Guimaras ranks first overall, ahead of Aklan (94.2%), Antique (93.9%), Capiz (92.7%), and Iloilo (91.9%).

Even in male literacy, Guimaras performs strongly, nearly matching the leading province of Aklan.

Guimaras continues to shine as one of the top-performing provinces in Region VI when it comes to functional literacy among individuals aged 10 to 64 years.

Based on the 2024 Functional Literacy Survey, the province reported an impressive functional literacy rate of 73.0%, which means that nearly 3 out of 4 individuals in this age group possess the ability to read, write, compute, and comprehend information—skills crucial for daily functioning, productivity, and informed decision-making.

Despite being one of the smallest provinces in terms of population, with just 143,000 individuals aged 10 to 64 years old, Guimaras ranks among the top three provinces in Region VI in terms of functional literacy, closely trailing Aklan (73.9%) and Antique (73.8%).

While Capiz has a functional literacy rate of 70.9%, which is slightly above the regional average, Iloilo province (excluding Iloilo City), on the other hand, recorded a functional literacy rate of 68.4%, which is below the regional level.

“Looking at the broader picture, Region VI has a total population of 3,623,000 individuals aged 10 to 64 years old, of which 2,558,000 are functionally literate, resulting in an overall regional functional literacy rate of 70.6%,” Losare said.

Moreover, Guimaras noted an exceptional functional literacy rate among females of 80.9%, the highest among all provinces and highly urbanized cities in Western Visayas.

This indicates that women in Guimaras are not only achieving basic educational milestones but also developing higher-order thinking and comprehension skills.

In contrast, the male functional literacy rate in the province is 65.7%, which, although below the regional male average, still contributes to a strong overall performance.

The gender gap of 15.2 percentage points between females and males in Guimaras is the widest in the region.