Budget woes leave 23K public schools without principal

MANILA, Philippines — The proposed 2027 National Expenditure Program (NEP) contains no funding for hiring new school principals despite 45 percent of public schools lacking principal plantilla items, the Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM 2) revealed yesterday.

The Department of Education (DepEd) had requested P10.5 billion to hire more than 14,000 new Principal I personnel next year, but the executive proposal provided no funding for the request.

Education Undersecretary Wilfredo Cabral said DepEd would instead rely on the P12.09-billion allocation under the Expanded Career Progression framework to reclassify eligible head teachers and teachers-in-charge to higher positions.

“As we confront our learning crisis, our schools require strong leadership by able and properly assigned school principals. It is imperative that the 2027 budget considers this large shortfall, even prioritizing our 13,313 schools without either a school principal or even head teacher,” EDCOM 2 executive director Karol Mark Yee said.

Around 22,000 of the country’s 45,928 public schools had principals, leaving approximately 23,000 without formal principal plantilla items, Cabral said.

The Department of Budget and Management approved 6,000 additional Principal I positions for 2026.

Of these, around 2,000 had been filled, while 914 teachers-in-charge had been reclassified into formal principal positions.

Under DepEd Order 77, series of 2010, schools with at least nine teachers should have a principal plantilla item, while those with at least six teachers should have a head teacher item.

Yee urged DepEd to review the guidelines and strengthen monitoring and accountability to address differing practices among schools.

CEAP: Raise ARAL funds

The Catholic Educational Association of the Philippines (CEAP) has backed additional funding for the Academic Recovery and Accessible Learning (ARAL) program to address persistent learning gaps.

CEAP cited a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization report estimating that low-income and lower-middle-income countries face a $97-billion annual funding gap in meeting education targets by 2030.

“Behind this figure is a difficult question that governments everywhere continue to confront: how do we translate our commitments to education into the resources needed to make them real?” CEAP said.

According to EDCOM 2, at least 13.1 million learners from Grades 1 to 12 may need remediation, requiring around 873,362 tutors.

ARAL received P8.9 billion under the 2026 General Appropriations Act, but the proposed 2027 NEP has no dedicated funding for the program.

The House version of the General Appropriations Bill provides only P350 million for ARAL and other learning recovery programs, against DepEd’s P15.98-billion request.

During a Senate budget hearing, lawmakers questioned why the program, credited with moving more than three million learners out of the struggling reader category, had no standalone allocation.

“Additional funding can make a difference when it reaches the classroom in ways that matter. Learning recovery requires capable and adequately supported teachers, appropriate learning materials, sustained intervention and careful monitoring of results,” CEAP said.