MANILA — Less than half of Filipino households with young children have the basic resources needed to support early learning and brain development, according to findings set to be released in the Second Congressional Commission on Education’s (EDCOM II) Final Report.

EDCOM II found that only 48% of households with children aged 0 to 4 own educational toys, while just 40% have children’s books at home, pointing to a major gap in early stimulation at the household level during a critical stage of brain development.

For many Filipino children, particularly those from low-income households, public Child Development Centers (CDCs) serve as their main source of early stimulation. However, the Commission said the early childhood system remains under severe strain, with more than 4,600 barangays still lacking a functional CDC despite mandates requiring one in every community.

Even in areas with existing centers, quality remains uneven. EDCOM II reported that only 14.2% of CDCs have been upgraded over the past decade to meet current standards, leaving many without age-appropriate and developmentally aligned learning materials.

The Commission also cited stark disparities in local government investment. In some low-income and geographically isolated municipalities, annual budgets for learning materials are as low as ₱1,900 per CDC, while wealthier local government units are able to invest hundreds of thousands of pesos in learning facilities. As a result, access to early learning largely depends on location rather than national standards.

EDCOM II further found that children aged 0 to 2 years receive the fewest and least appropriate learning materials, despite being in the most critical phase of brain development. Most available resources are designed for older preschoolers, leaving infants and toddlers without sensory-rich and caregiver-guided materials essential during the first 1,000 days of life.

“This is a silent crisis that begins long before a child ever enters a classroom,” said EDCOM II Executive Director Dr. Karol Mark Yee. “The fact that less than half of Filipino households have access to basic early learning tools like books and educational toys shows how early disadvantage is already taking root.”

“Science tells us that over a million neural connections form every second in the earliest years of life,” Yee added. “When we fail to support families and communities during this window, we are effectively forfeiting the highest-return investment we can make in human capital—and consigning many children to start school already behind.”

The Commission also identified cultural and informational barriers, noting that 97% of parents surveyed believe children under five are too young for structured early learning. This belief has contributed to low participation rates of 21% to 29% among three- to four-year-olds in early childhood programs.

To address these issues, EDCOM II called for the full implementation of Republic Act No. 12199, or the ECCD System Act, which mandates dedicated local government funding and the professionalization of the early childhood workforce. It also recommended closer coordination between the National Book Development Board and the ECCD Council to develop low-cost learning materials for use in CDCs and at home.

The EDCOM II Final Report, which consolidates findings from more than a hundred commissioned studies on the Philippine education system, will be officially released on January 26, 2026.

The findings draw from a Philippine Institute for Development Studies study on the “next 1,000 days” of a child’s life, as well as an EDCOM II–commissioned study on early childhood learning resources produced in partnership with the Ateneo de Manila University.