The Department of Education (DepEd) has a big job to do: find and hire over 20,000 teachers before the end of August. With only a month left, they have filled just 9 percent of the 22,323 vacant teaching positions across the country.
During a hearing with the House committee on appropriations, Education Undersecretary Wilfredo Cabral reported that about 22 percent of the vacancies are currently being processed. He explained, “We have 9 percent of these positions filled. Twenty-two percent are in various stages of appointment, and we have a monitoring system to track which regions are following through.”
Last year, DepEd issued a memorandum order to regional directors and school division superintendents, asking them to create plans to quickly fill these vacant teaching positions. Cabral emphasized that they are closely monitoring progress to ensure all positions are filled by August. This is important so the allocated budget for these positions is used before the end of the fiscal year.
Hard-to-Fill Positions
There are also 9,673 unfilled positions for non-teaching personnel, such as administrative officers and assistants. House Deputy Minority Leader and ACT Teachers party list Rep. France Castro pointed out that these positions are hard to fill due to high turnover rates. Cabral explained, “Once applicants get the position, they often leave after a certain period to look for better opportunities.”
To help teachers focus on providing quality education, the budget department approved DepEd’s request to create 5,000 new non-teaching positions this year. These positions are intended to take on administrative tasks, freeing up teachers to concentrate on teaching.
As DepEd races against time, the goal is to ensure all teaching positions are filled and the allocated budget is properly utilized by the end of the fiscal year.
