Education in the Philippines is compulsory at the basic education level, composed of kindergarten, elementary school (grades 1–6), junior high school (grades 7–10), and senior high school (grades 11–12). The educational system is managed by three government agencies by level of education: the Department of Education (DepEd) for basic education; the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) for higher education; and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) for technical and vocational education. Public education is funded by the national government.

Private schools are generally free to determine their curriculum in accordance with existing laws and regulations. Institutions of higher education are classified as public or private; public institutions are subdivided into state universities and colleges (SUCs) and local colleges and universities (LCUs).

Enrollment in basic education has increased steadily since the effectivity of the K-12 curriculum, first implemented on May 20, 2008 through its 9 years of implementation until June 5, 2017, on April 24, 2012, with over 28 million students enrolled in the 2022-2023 school year. In 2020, there were approximately 32 million learners aged 5 to 24 enrolled nationwide. An additional 640,000 out-of-school youth participated in the Alternative Learning System, while 1.6 million children aged 5 to 17 remained out of school as of 2023. Completion rates for primary and lower secondary education are relatively high, but drop-out rates and barriers to upper secondary and tertiary education remain, particularly among lower-income students.

During the pre-colonial period, most children were not provided solely vocational training, supervised by parents, tribal tutors or those assigned to specific, specialized roles within their communities (for example, the babaylan). In most communities, stories, songs, poetry, dances, medicinal practices and advice regarding all sorts of community life issues were passed from generation to generation, primarily through oral tradition. Some communities utilized a writing system known as baybayin, whose use was wide and varied, though other syllabaries were used throughout the archipelago. Inculcation of reverence for the god Bathala, obedience to authority, loyalty to the family or clan, and respect for truth and righteousness were the chief aims of education.

Formal education was brought to the Philippines by the Spanish, which was primarily conducted by religious orders. Upon learning the local languages and writing systems, they began teaching Christianity, the Spanish language, and Spanish culture. These religious orders opened the first schools and universities as early as the 16th century. Spanish missionaries established schools immediately after reaching the islands. The Augustinians opened a parochial school in Cebu in 1565. The Franciscans took to the task of improving literacy in 1577, aside from the teaching of new industrial and agricultural techniques. The Jesuits followed in 1581, and the Dominicans, in 1587, set up a school in Bataan. The church and the school cooperated to ensure that Christian villages had schools for students to attend.

Schools for boys and girls were then opened. Colegios were opened for boys, ostensibly the equivalent to present-day senior high schools. The Universidad de San Ignacio, founded in Manila by the Jesuits in 1589, was the first colegio. Eventually, it was incorporated into the University of Santo Tomas, College of Medicine and Pharmacology, following the suppression of the Jesuits. Girls had two types of schools – the Beaterio, a school meant to prepare them for the life at convent, and another, a Colegio , meant to prepare them for secular womanhood.

The Spanish also introduced printing presses to produce books in Spanish and Tagalog, sometimes using Baybayin. The first book printed in the Philippines dates back to 1590. It was a Chinese language version of Doctrina Christiana. Spanish and Tagalog versions, in both Latin script and the locally used baybayin script, were later printed in 1593. In 1610, Tomás Pinpin, a Filipino printer, writer and publisher, sometimes called the "Patriarch of Filipino Printing", wrote his famous "Librong Pagaaralan nang manga Tagalog nang Uicang Castilla", which was meant to help Filipinos learn the Spanish language. The prologue read:

Let us therefore study, my countrymen, for although the art of learning is somewhat difficult, yet if we are persevering, we shall soon improve our knowledge. Other Tagalogs like us did not take a year to learn the Spanish language when using my book. This good result has given me satisfaction and encouraged me to print my work, so that all may derive some profit from it.