The Department of Education is setting its sights on a specific group of overseas workers as it works to fill vacant teaching posts nationwide — Filipino educators who left the country for work abroad and are now considering coming home.
Education Secretary Sonny Angara said the push to recruit returning teacher-OFWs is part of a directive from President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to address shortages in the country’s education workforce.
Central to the effort is a program called “Sa ‘Pinas, Ikaw ang Ma’am at Sir” (SPIMS), which is designed to ease the transition of OFW teachers back into the local school system through reorientation and training support.
Angara pointed to a structural problem within the profession as a key driver of teacher emigration — limited room for career growth and insufficient recognition of educators who remain in the country. The reintegration initiative, he said, seeks to address those gaps directly.
Among the incentives being offered to teachers who choose to return is an accelerated promotion pathway, alongside an expanded package of benefits aimed at making local teaching positions more competitive with opportunities abroad.
