In 1991 the education system was reaching a comparatively large part of the population, at least at the elementary level. According to 1988 Philippine government figures, which count as literate everyone who has completed four years of elementary school, the overall literacy rate was 88 %, up from 82.6 % in 1970. Literacy rates were virtually the same for women and men. Elementary education was free and, in the 1987 academic year, was provided to some 15 million schoolchildren, 96.4 % of the age-group. High school enrollment rates were around 56 % nationwide but were somewhat lower on Mindanao and in Eastern Visayas region. Enrollment in institutions of higher learning exceeded 1.6 million.

Education in the Philippines is free and compulsory for children ages 6 through 12. Although Filipino is taught and, in the lower grades, local dialects are also used, English is the main language of instruction. Some 99 % of the adult population is literate. In the 1997-1998 school year 12.2 million pupils were listed in elementary schools, and 5 million students attended secondary schools. around 2 million students attended universities and colleges, such as the University of the Philippines (1908), in Quezon City; Adamson University (1932), the University of the East (1946), Far Eastern University (1928), Feati University (1946), and the University of Santo Tomás (1611), all in Manila; Bicol University (1969), in Legaspi; the University of Mindanao (1946), in Davao; Saint Louis University (1911), in Baguio; and Southwestern University (1946), in Cebu.