MANILA — Four-term Senator Loren Legarda has introduced the proposed K to 3 Foundational Learning and Nurturing Care Act, a measure aimed at confronting persistent challenges in early-grade education by strengthening literacy, numeracy, and socio-emotional learning from Kindergarten to Grade 3.

The bill seeks to close the gap between early childhood care and the formal K–12 system by focusing on the crucial formative years of basic education.

Legarda cited findings of the Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM II), which showed that nearly half of Filipino learners are unable to read at grade level by the end of Grade 3.

She also pointed to global studies conducted by UNICEF and the World Bank indicating that 91% of Filipino children at late primary age cannot read and comprehend a simple story, placing the country among those with the highest learning poverty rates worldwide.

“What begins as a reading problem ultimately becomes a learning crisis,” Legarda stressed. “If we fail our children in the early years, we fail them for life. This is a crisis we cannot afford to ignore.”

The senator noted that while the country has an Early Childhood Care and Development framework under Republic Act No. 12199, a critical transition period remains insufficiently supported.

“Kindergarten to Grade 3 is a critical stage that determines whether a child will stay on track or fall into struggle,” Legarda said. “Without deliberate investment in these formative years, ECCD gains will be lost, and children will be left unprepared for the demands of higher education.”

According to Legarda, the measure follows a prevention-first approach that aims to establish strong academic foundations early on to lessen the need for remediation in later years. The proposal calls for high-quality, language-rich and numeracy-rich instruction integrated with socio-emotional learning and values formation.

“Foundational learning is more than learning how to read and count,” Legarda clarified. “It is about nurturing and building the skills, habits, and values that shape a child for life. It is about raising citizens who can think critically, care deeply, and act with integrity and responsibility.”

She underscored the long-term national benefits of strengthening early-grade education.

“Education is the nation’s most powerful equalizer. If we fix learning in the early grades we ease congestion in later years, resulting in fewer repeaters, fewer dropouts, and better use of every peso dedicated to education. When we give every Filipino child the tools to read, count, and care, we give them the power to dream, to achieve, and to contribute meaningfully to our country’s future.”

Legarda chairs the Senate Committee on Higher, Technical, and Vocational Education and serves as co-chairperson of EDCOM II, where she has prioritized foundational learning as a central component of her education reform agenda.