The government’s 2027 spending plan sets aside nothing for bringing new teachers into public schools, according to figures the Department of Education laid out before lawmakers.
Speaking to the House Committee on Appropriations, Education Secretary Sonny Angara pegged the gap at “the shortage is 14,274 teachers, costing around P4.29 billion.” Even without dedicated funding for next year, he noted that recruitment has actually picked up in the current cycle. “We got 32,000 this year, which is above the average hiring, your honor, I think, which averages around 20,000,” Angara said, contrasting it with a typical intake near 20,000.
Career advancement for existing staff remains stalled as well, with a sizeable queue of educators cleared for promotion but unable to move up. Angara said roughly 100,000 personnel who qualify “are about 100,000 still waiting and entitled to the promotions,” held back by the absence of money to cover them.
The two years ahead do carry promotion funds, according to the secretary. “For 2026, there is a P6 billion budget given by Congress, and this is enough to promote 82,000 of our teachers and school heads. In 2027, there is a P12 billion budget, and this should answer for the promotions of 135,000 school heads,” he told the panel.
Committee chair Rep. Mikaela Suansing instructed the department to turn in a trimmed and reordered “reprioritized list” by Wednesday.
Beyond classroom staffing, the department’s draft 2027 allocation under the National Expenditure Program earmarks P801.5 million to bring on 1,800 school counselor associates along with 221 counselors assigned to schools division offices. DepEd framed these hires as backup meant to free up teachers for instruction rather than administrative load.
The staffing figures sit within a much larger request. When the department appeared before the House panel on Monday, it put forward a P975.96-billion package for fiscal 2027 that folds in its attached agencies, per a DepEd press statement. On top of that, the department wants an added P145.19 billion to bankroll priority initiatives the NEP left unfunded.
The proposed NEP breakdown shifts weight heavily toward salaries: Personnel Services climbs 8.64% to P766.74 billion, even as Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses drop 15.94% to P174.32 billion and Capital Outlay is slashed 67.49% to P32.34 billion.
