Literacy rate in the MIMAROPA Region reaches 95.6 percent        

Based on the 2020 Census of Population and Housing (2020 CPH), of the 2,880,314 household population five years old and over in the MIMAROPA Region, 2,752,559 persons (95.6%) were literate. In the 2020 CPH, a person is considered literate if he/she is able to read and write a simple message in any language or dialect. 

The regional literacy rate in 2020 was 1.4 percentage points lower than the national literacy rate of 97.0 percent. In terms of sex, female’s literacy rate in 2020 at  95.7 percent was slightly higher than the literacy rate of males at 95.4 percent. (Figure 1 and Table A) 

Literacy rate is highest among household population 15 to 19 years old 

In the MIMAROPA Region, the literacy rate is highest among household population whose age is 15 to 19 five years old at 98.8 percent. The same age group had the highest literacy rate for male household population (98.7%) and female household population (98.9%). 

The age groups 10 to 14 years old and 20 to 24 years old closely followed with corresponding literacy rate of 98.6 percent (male: 98.4%, and female: 98.8%) and

On the other hand, senior citizens and children belonging to the age group of five to nine years old had low literacy rates. The literacy rate among household population 60 to 64 years old was at 96.1 percent with males (96.2%) had a higher literacy rate than females (96.1%). Likewise for the household population 65 years and over at 93.8 percent literacy rate (male: 93.9%, and female: 93.7%).  (Table 1) Meanwhile, children whose age is between five to nine years old had 82.8 percent literacy rate with males’ literacy rate of 82.5 percent fared lower than females’ literacy rate of 83.2 percent. (Table 1) 

Among provinces in the region, Oriental Mindoro had the highest number of literate household population whose age is at least five years old. This number reached 

785,838 persons or 28.5 percent of the region’s literate household population five years old and over. The province of Palawan closely followed with 775,415 persons which translates to a 28.2 percent of the regional number of literate household population. Meanwhile, the province of Marinduque had the least number of literate population at 212,391 persons. (Figure 2) 

Number of literate males is higher than the number of literate females 

In terms of the number of literate household population five years old and over by sex, male household population outnumbered female household population in the region with a share of 50.9 percent. The same trend holds for all provinces in the region wherein the highest share of literate males in the provincial literate household population was at Palawan with 51.8 percent share. This was followed by Occidental Mindoro where literate males had 51.2 percent share to the province’s literate household population.  Meanwhile, the larger share of literate males was seen in Marinduque at 50.1 percent. 

In the City of Puerto Princesa, being the lone highly urbanized city in the MIMAROPA Region, the literate male household population had a share of nearly 50.0 percent to

Provincial literacy rate is highest in Marinduque 

Among provinces in the region, Marinduque posted the highest literacy rate at

TECHNICAL NOTES 

1. I. Introduction 

The Philippine Statistics Authority conducted the 2020 Census of Population and Housing (2020 CPH) in September 2020, with 01 May 2020 as reference date. 

The 2020 CPH was the 15th census of population and 7th census of housing that was undertaken in the Philippines since the first census in 1903. It was designed to take inventory of the total population and housing units in the country and collect information about their characteristics. 

The Philippine Standard Geographic Codes as of March 2022 was used for the disaggregation of geographic levels of the 2020 CPH. 

1. II. Data Collection 

Data on literacy provides an important indicator that will serve as guide to planners in formulating policies and programs for the development of the country’s educational system. 

The statistics presented in this report were based on the information provided by the respondent or any responsible household member who may provide accurate answers to the questions and give correct information about all the household members; hence, it should be used with caution. 

1. III. Methodology 

The population and housing censuses in the Philippines are conducted on a  “de jure” basis, wherein a person is counted in the usual place of residence or the place where the person usually resides. The enumeration of the population and collection of pertinent data in the 2020 CPH referred to all living persons as of 01 May 2020. 

For the 2020 CPH, literacy data of household members five years and over was collected by asking the respondents, “Can ___ read and write a simple message in any language or dialect?”.

1. IV. Concepts and Definition of Terms 

A household is a social unit consisting of a person living alone or a group of persons who sleep in the same housing unit and have a common arrangement in the preparation and consumption of food. 

Household population comprises of persons who belong to a household. 

Sex is the biological and physiological reality of being a male or female. 

Age refers to interval of time between the person’s date of birth and his/her last birthday prior to the census reference date. It is expressed in completed years or whole number. 

Simple literacy is the ability of a person to read and write a simple message. As such, a person is said to be literate if he/she can both read and write a simple message in any language or dialect. A person who cannot read and write a simple message, such as “I CAN READ” is considered illiterate. Moreover, a person is still considered illiterate if he/she is capable of reading and writing only his/her own name or numbers. Similarly, a person is illiterate if he/she can read but not write or he/she can write but not read. 

A person who knows how to read and write but at the time of the census can no longer read and/or write due to some physical defect or illness is still considered literate. Example of this is an aged person who knows how to read and write but can no longer perform these activities due to poor eyesight or hand injury. Persons with disability who can read and write through other means such as the use of Braille are considered literate.