The government’s proposed 2027 budget still carries funds to hire tens of thousands of public school teachers, DepEd and the Department of Budget and Management said Thursday, rejecting claims that teacher recruitment would stop next year.
The two agencies said Php 31.22 billion had been set aside to fill 64,530 teaching positions. Of these, 31,614 were existing vacancies as of April 24, while 32,916 were positions approved by DBM in May.
DepEd and DBM said the 2027 proposal did not create another batch of Teacher I posts because thousands of already authorized positions remained vacant and could still be filled once qualified applicants were hired.
As of Sept. 4, DepEd had filled 33,250 teaching positions, leaving 25,019 unoccupied. Among the positions created in 2026, 22,649 had been filled while 8,733 were still vacant.
Education Secretary Sonny Angara said the priority was to speed up recruitment and deploy teachers to schools with the greatest need. Acting Budget Secretary Kim Robert de Leon likewise said the lack of a fresh batch of Teacher I items should not be interpreted as a hiring freeze.
The clarification followed reports that DepEd’s request for another 14,274 teaching positions worth about Php 4.29 billion was not included in the proposed 2027 spending plan. The agencies said those posts were a separate request from the 64,530 positions already funded for filling.
The proposed 2027 DepEd budget stands at Php 975.96 billion, about 5.1 percent higher than its proposed 2026 level. DBM said Php 61.02 billion of the increase would go to personnel services, including salaries and other workforce-related spending.
The spending plan also includes Php 7.582 billion for substitute teachers, Php 840.589 million for 2,135 non-teaching posts and Php 801.583 million for 2,021 school counseling positions. Separate allocations cover the Php 10,000 annual teaching allowance, benefits under the Magna Carta for Public School Teachers and the expanded career progression system.