Impact of Poor Reading Comprehension on Graduating Students in S.Y.

2023-2024

"Reading brings knowledge, and knowledge is power; therefore, reading is

power,” (Chase, 2017, book no.2). Thus, what is going to happen to students who
graduate but still struggle with reading comprehension? First and foremost, reading
comprehension refers to the ability to comprehend text and contain vocabulary
knowledge and it plays a significant role in the overall academic performance of
students. According to a report published by the Programme for International Student
Assessment (PISA) only 19.4% of junior and senior high school students met the
required competency level in overall reading literacy (Yubokmee, 2022). Many high
school graduating seniors are not fluent readers and have not hit literacy benchmarks.
Furthermore, the Philippines landed in the bottom 10 out of 81 countries in reading
comprehension, mathematics and science and showed minimal improvement, in
accordance with the result of the 2022 Program for International Student Assessment
(Servallos, 2023).
Additionally, since reading comprehension is essential for all other academic
skills and subjects, it will have a drastic impact on the academic performance of
students. As high school students studying at Agusan National High School, we have
observed that a lot of grade 10 students are still struggling with reading and
comprehending English text. Poor reading comprehension can affect students in
academic, emotional, and social manner: students will find themselves struggling in
various aspects in their education as reading comprehension is essential in every
subject which can lead to poor academic performance; furthermore, students are also
affected emotionally due to self- esteem deterioration (70% of students will learn to read
regardless of instruction; however, 30% requires explicit, systematic phonics
instructions); lastly, poor reading comprehension will also affect them socially, to be
more precise, they will suffer from isolation (psychology and sociology suggest that
students naturally become friends with peers similar to them in academic standing),
(Barnett, 2010).
Thus, to address the issues related to poor reading comprehension, Vice
President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte implemented sweeping reforms to
improve students’ performance in mathematics, science, and reading comprehension.
This includes “Catch-up Fridays” in public schools, wherein students will spend every
Friday mastering and enhancing their reading skills (Servallos, 2023). By implementing
catch-up Friday, high school students will benefit from enhancing their reading
comprehension and increasing their moral values. However, there are various
downsides to the implementation of catch-up Fridays, including the failure of students to
cooperate (they regard catch-up Fridays as a holiday and treat them as less important
than the other days of the week, so they tend to have a high inclination to be absent),
the tendency to be unserious and play games during the reading session, and the
declaration of half-day sessions.
This paper aims to identify the detrimental effects of poor reading comprehension
on graduating students: a call for improved strategies in high school institutions. It first
discusses the percentage of junior and senior high school students who encounter
struggles with reading comprehension, then goes on to discuss the detrimental effects
of poor reading comprehension on graduating students. Lastly, it explores the various
reforms implemented by the government to address the said issue, particularly the
catch-up Friday, and its flaws, which need modifications.
 References
Barnett, A. (2019, June 22). 3 Ways Poor Reading Skills Impact 68% of 4th Graders. Reading

Horizons

https://readinghorizons.website/blog/post/2010/06/22/3-ways-poor-reading-skills-impact-

6825-of-4th-graders?fbclid=IwAR0UDWy5-pSsQdxretqeG6dULJIGVXQ9Ow89DEF3xn

4i9J7sf8oOGeoKxlM

Chase, E. (2017). Royally Matched. Simon & Schuster Audio.

Servallos, J., N. (2023, December 6). Student assessment: Philippines still in bottom 10.

Philstar Global

https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2023/12/06/2316752/student-assessment-philippine

-still-bottom-10

Yubokmee, J. (2022). COLUMN | Sara look: Low comprehension among students is caused by

inefficiencies of your people. Explained PH.

https://www.explained.ph/2022/09/sara-look-low-comprehension-among-students-is-cau

sed-by-inefficiencies-of-your-people.html?m=1&fbclid=IwAR2jUUkI1S7Exiaj0yIO4Uu-E

g48NRUqKMYOY5A7fDIyrJMRqtcQfE3z_j0