Angara: Can’t hire teachers with ‘zero’ allocation

DepEd Sec. Sonny Angara —Photo from DepEd Philippines/Facebook MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Education (DepEd) won’t be able to hire more than 14,000 new teachers next year unless Congress restores its funding request, Secretary Sonny Angara said on Monday. The department was earmarked P973.40 billion under the P7.2-trillion 2027 National Expenditure Program, down from its P1.01-trillion funding this year. Its request for funding for teachers’ recruitment was reduced to zero. “Unfortunately, there was none,” Angara told lawmakers at the House of Representatives, confirming the Department of Budget and Management’s zero allocation for DepEd’s recruitment program. “But we’re hoping that it will be hiked in the course of the budgetary process.” Article continues after this advertisement READ: Angara: 2027 DepEd budget lower due to infra being defunded The education chief’s presentation showed the agency had requested an additional P49.16 billion from Congress for its “personnel improvement” program, including P4.29 billion for the hiring of 14,274 teachers. “This is part of the wish list,” he said, pointing out that this year, DepEd recruited 32,000 teachers, way above its annual average of 20,000 hired teachers. ‘Discretionary’ Besides funding for Teacher I posts, Angara also requested P16.64 billion for hiring 39,428 Project Development Officer I staff and P10.52 billion to fund 14,126 School Principal I posts. A budget watchdog, however, warned that DepEd’s proposed spending plan is becoming “discretionary, centrally pooled.” Article continues after this advertisement In a statement, the Amplify Education Budget Initiative observed that some line items in the proposed budget have been merged, muddling transparency and civil society oversight. “Vouchers, inclusive-education funds and school-building money that once carried regional shares or stood as their own line items are now pooled in the Central Office, with no published list of what will be built or bought,” it said. Article continues after this advertisement The group warned the agency’s Central Office would hold outsized discretion “over tens of billions of pesos,” a trend it saw as worrying as the nation heads into an election cycle in 2028. “When the same money is merged into a broad Central Office pool, that trail goes dark, and the choice of who benefits shifts from a transparent formula to an official’s discretion,” it said. Room for flexibility Previously separate line items now merged into one include the voucher program for senior high school students in the academic and trade track and the Educational Service Contracting project for junior high school students. Those initiatives, now consolidated under the Government Assistance and Subsidies program, were earmarked P38.1 billion for next year. Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again. Your subscription has been successful. Angara later told reporters the agency was prompted to combine the three programs for budget flexibility. /cb