Domestic Responsibilities and Reading Comprehension Proficiency among Senior High School Students in Samar, Philippines

Abstract

Reading comprehension is a fundamental skill that supports students’ academic achievement and lifelong learning. However, contextual factors such as domestic responsibilities may influence students’ engagement in reading and study activities. This study examined the relationship between domestic responsibilities and the reading comprehension proficiency of Senior High School students in the District of Zumarraga, Schools Division of Samar, during School Year 2024–2025. Specifically, it described students’ reading comprehension proficiency in terms of comprehension strategies, vocabulary acquisition, and sentence structure analysis; assessed the incidence of domestic responsibilities in household maintenance and care, food-related activities, and economically productive tasks; and determined the relationships among these variables. A descriptive-correlational research design was employed involving 216 Senior High School students selected through stratified random sampling from four public secondary schools. Data were collected using an adopted questionnaire and analyzed using weighted mean and Spearman’s rho correlation coefficient. Results revealed that students demonstrated a satisfactory level of reading comprehension, with vocabulary acquisition obtaining the highest grand weighted mean (WM = 3.40), followed by sentence structure analysis (WM = 3.34) and comprehension strategies (WM = 3.23). In terms of domestic responsibilities, students were highly involved in household maintenance and care (WM = 3.55), moderately involved in food-related activities (WM = 2.99), and minimally involved in economically productive tasks. Correlation analysis showed significant positive relationships between household maintenance and care and the reading comprehension domains (ρ = 0.355–0.390) and between food-related activities and comprehension domains (ρ = 0.240–0.316), while economic productive tasks showed very weak, non-significant relationships (ρ = 0.018–0.075). The findings suggest that moderate domestic responsibilities do not necessarily hinder students’ reading development and may, in turn, indirectly support discipline and learning.