A report revealing that more than half of public schools in the country have been operating without a principal is “very alarming,” but is merely one of the mounting problems plaguing the Department of Education (DepEd), a House leader disclosed Sunday.

In an interview, Pasig Rep. Roman Romulo, chairperson of the House Committee on Basic Education and Culture, lamented that the education sector has been facing significant challenges, ranging from the lack of principals and guidance counselors, lagging career progression, low compensation and excessive workload, thereby forcing teachers to leave the job.

“Apparently, all our problems in education are long-standing, whether the problem is with respect to teachers’ progression — the teachers’ careers — or the principal’s, the guidance counselors’ — all of these have been a long-term issue already,” said Romulo, co-chairperson of the Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM 2), in Filipino.

A report from EDCOM 2 released last Monday disclosed that 55 percent, or 24,916 out of the 45,199 public schools, do not have sitting principals.

Of the number, 13,332 are headed by head teachers; 8,916 schools only with teachers in charge; 2,337 schools with officers in charge; and 193 are “undefined.”

Meanwhile, of those 20,381 public schools that have principals, not all had the corresponding plantilla item, the findings showed.

Romulo narrated that the lack of principals in public schools will only exacerbate the current crisis in addressing education challenges, which, in any way, cannot be resolved by appointing a temporary teacher or officer in charge.

“If there is no leader, if there is no principal in that school, then who will rule? Who can say what the problem is, what the solution is, and so that we can devolve it well? We were honestly worried when we saw this fact,” he stated.

Some public schools, Romulo said, have existing principal plantilla items. However, fulfilling them remains a challenge because “none has qualified.”

Although the lawmaker acknowledged the urgent need to address this dire shortage, he pointed out that filling this gap should not come at the expense of compromising the qualifications and standards of the pivotal position.

“We cannot sacrifice the quality. Quality is very important, especially in the leadership role… We are not saying [to] loosen up [the exam] just to have a principal because that is not right either,” he averred.

Over the years, the number of teachers who passed the National Qualifying Examination for School Heads (NQESH) has never reached even less than half or 50 percent of passing rates.

In 2016, the NQESH passing rate was only 2.22 percent. While it significantly increased to 24.75 in 2017, it plunged to a mere 0.68 percent in 2018. In 2021 and 2023, it rose to almost 34 percent and 26 percent, respectively, but still fell below 50 percent.

No exam was administered in 2019, 2020 and 2022.

Earlier, Romulo blamed the shortage of principals on DepEd’s lack of priority in filling this void for decades.

In response, DepEd assured that preemptive measures are already in place to fill up the positions, with around 7,700 eligible principals available. The numbers came from the teachers in charge, who reportedly already qualified to become principals.