MANILA — The Department of Education expects to get enough money to hire more than 30,000 teachers next year to help address shortages in public school.

With 32,916 Teacher I items in the National Expenditure Program presented to Congress for the General Appropriations Bill, the department stated that the planned hire would be the largest rise in a single year.

“Kapag nagdagdag tayo ng libo-libong guro, mas lumuluwag ang mga silid-aralan at mas nabibigyang-pansin ang mga batang kailangang abutan. Papalakasin ang pwersa ng mga guro para mas umangat ang kalidad ng pagtuturo sa bawat paaralan,” Angara stated in the release from the DepEd.

(If we hire thousands of more teachers, that will mean less congested classrooms and more attention to learners who need it. We are increasing our teaching workforce to increase the quality of teaching in every school)

Additionally, DepEd intends to add 10,000 School Counselor Associate I employees to assist with issues like bullying and learner well-being and fill 6,000 School Principal I positions to fill leadership shortfalls.

In addition to the 20,000 additional teaching posts created for Fiscal Year 2025 and the 33,052 empty teaching positions from prior years, hiring is scheduled for 2026.

Also, DepEd plans to hire 5,000 Project Development Officers I and 11,268 Administrative Officers II.

The department stated that its hiring plan “reflects both the urgency of addressing classroom congestion and the trust placed in the department’s capacity to implement systemic reforms.”

The planned hiring comes as the Philippines continues to confront declining performance in international assessments such as PISA and TIMSS. Education experts say that increasing the number of qualified teachers is essential to improving student learning and reducing disparities between urban and rural schools.

“Reforms must be comprehensive, but increasing teacher numbers is one of the most urgent steps,” an education researcher noted.

DepEd said it will soon release further details on the hiring guidelines, expected qualification standards, and priority regions once the budget process progresses.

“Our goal is to strengthen the teaching force,” the agency said. “With more teachers, we can deliver better education services for millions of Filipino students.”