A teachers’ group has challenged the government’s claim that education remains a top budget priority, saying the proposed 2027 spending plan falls short of the resources needed to address persistent shortages in classrooms, teachers and learning materials.

The Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) Philippines criticized the Department of Budget and Management’s announcement that P1.326 trillion had been proposed for basic and higher education under the 2027 National Expenditure Program, equivalent to 3.99 percent of gross domestic product (GDP).

“The 3.99% of GDP is far too small compared to the actual needs of Philippine education,” ACT Chairperson Ruby Bernardo said in a statement.

“Pangalawang beses na itong ipinagyayabang ng administrasyon na tumuntong sa 4% ng GDP, pero ano ang inabot ng sinasabing makasaysayang pondo ngayong taon?” she said.

The DBM said the amount represented a whole-of-government investment in education, including spending beyond the budgets of the main education agencies, and placed the sector near the lower end of the UNESCO benchmark of 4% to 6% of GDP. Basic education accounts for about P976 billion, while higher education is allocated P176.5 billion.

The group pointed to the proposed P7.2-trillion national budget, saying the P2.7 trillion allocation for debt payments would be far larger than the combined allocations for education. The proposed budget is about 6% higher than the 2026 national budget, with the increase partly driven by mandatory obligations and other fiscal requirements, according to the DBM.

ACT said the proposed education spending also failed to match the scale of the country’s infrastructure deficit.

It said the government was targeting only 700 new classrooms even as the country faced a shortage of more than 165,000 classrooms. The Second Congressional Commission on Education, or EDCOM II, has separately reported a classroom backlog of 165,443, while warning that aging school buildings could further worsen the deficit.

The Department of Education has reported a lower estimated backlog of 143,543 classrooms as of June 2026, saying the figure was being refined through continuing validation of school inventories, enrollment and site conditions.

ACT also said funding for basic education facilities would fall to P30.5 billion from P85.4 billion in 2026.

The group said the proposed creation of 1,800 School Counselor Associate I and 1,000 School Principal I positions was inadequate compared with its estimate that the sector needs 150,000 more teachers and 84,000 education support personnel.

It also criticized the proposed provision of 13,344 laptop packages for teaching personnel and a reduction in funding for textbooks and instructional materials to P6.5 billion from P19.5 billion.

Bernardo said the P12.09-billion allocation for the Expanded Career Progression System, which targets 135,063 qualified educators, would not resolve longstanding problems with teacher promotion.

“Kulang na kulang ang pondo para sa career progression. Hindi nito tinutugunan ang realidad na hindi inklusibo ang proseso, pahirapan ang promosyon, at napakabagal ng sistema,” Bernardo said.