EDITORIAL — Investing in teachers

Various agencies say they are all set for today’s opening of school year 2025-2026. Public schools are opening, however, with the same problems bedeviling the sector, notably shortages in nearly everything, from classrooms to school supplies and teachers.

Education Secretary Sonny Angara said it would take at least 55 years before the shortage of 165,000 classrooms could be fully addressed. Addressing the teacher shortage could be equally challenging.

Last year, the Department of Education sought funding to hire an additional 56,060 teachers for school year 2025-2026. The gap has been narrowed, with 22,000 hired for 2024 and another 20,000 this year. This still leaves a gap of over 30,000.

Angara had told the Senate finance committee that thousands of teachers leave the public school system every year, and the government cannot hire replacements fast enough. The teachers leave for greener pastures overseas, or feel their career growth limited by a slow promotion system, Angara said. Teachers of English in particular are being pirated by schools in other countries.

Apart from modest pay, public school teachers are also burdened by non-teaching duties including administrative work and counseling. As far back as 1991, there have been proposals to remove these tasks from teachers, Angara noted, but the recommendations have not been acted upon.

While serving as guidance counselors to students, teachers themselves can suffer from burnout and other mental health issues. The government will have to invest in creating a pool of mental health professionals for state-run schools, from basic to higher education, to serve learners and educators alike.

There are nearly a million teachers in the basic public education system. Previous DepEd officials had told the Senate that the hiring process itself for new teachers was tedious, further slowing down the filling of vacancies.

Teachers also need constant upskilling, especially with the rapid advances in technology, which can be used to facilitate education.

For a long time now, indicators have pointed to a decline in the quality of Philippine education, which in turn has derailed national development. Reversing this trend will require greater investments in public education, with emphasis on the teaching workforce. The quality of education depends heavily on the skills of the educators.