DBM approves 16,000 new teaching positions for public schools

A teacher works at a classroom in San Francisco Elementary School in Quezon City on Jan. 31, 2023. The Department of Budget and Management has approved 16,000 new teaching positions for public schools for school year 2025-26. — Photo by Grig C. Montegrande

MANILA, Philippines — Sixteen thousand new teaching positions for public schools have been approved by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) for school year 2025–2026.

This is the first tranche of the 20,000 positions targeted for creation this year, the agency said in a press release on Sunday.

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“The DBM’s approval of the 16,000 new teaching positions is in adherence to our President’s directive to strengthen our country’s education system. This move is also in support of the Department of Education’s efforts to boost the teaching workforce across kindergarten, elementary, junior high school, senior high school, and the alternative learning system,” Budget Secretary Mina Pangandaman said.

The approved new positions are as follows:

15,343 Teacher I posts (Salary Grade 11)
157 Special Science Teachers (Salary Grade 13)
500 Special Education (SPED) Teachers (Salary Grade 14)

The P4.194 billion needed to fund these new teaching positions will come from the Department of Education’s built-in appropriations under the 2025 General Appropriations Act.

The DBM also said that, for more flexibility, the senior high school teaching positions will be created at the division level, allowing school division superintendents to transfer or reassign them to where they’re most needed. This arrangement was previously approved by the DBM in 2016. /das