DepEd reports 23K public schools without principals
(June 08 2026) School principal and teachers from Marcelo H del Pilar Elementary School in Kamuning Quezon City, welcome the students from kinder to grade six as they conduct an orientation, during the first day of classes on Monday June 8 2026.
Analy Labor for the Daily Tribune
The number of public schools without principals remains at around 23,000, representing more than half of the country’s 45,298 public schools. While lower than the 25,000 shortage reported last year, the figure remains high.
The shortage was discussed during a Senate budget hearing on Friday on the Department of Education’s (DepEd) proposed P975.96-billion budget for 2027, the largest allocation under the proposed P7.2-trillion national budget.
DepEd Secretary Sonny Angara said findings by the Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM 2) last year prompted the department to ease examination requirements for school principals to accelerate hiring and promotions and address the shortage of 24,916 principals.
Under the revised process, 2,349 school heads had been promoted as of September. However, DepEd Undersecretary Wille Cabral clarified that these promotions do not automatically translate into principal positions.
Head teachers and designated-in-charge (DIC) personnel must still meet additional qualifications to officially assume principal posts.
“We have a total of 45,928 schools [and] 22,000 already have school principals. But of course, there are DICs who have already passed the NQESH (National Qualifying Examination for School Heads), but they have to complete their educational qualifications as required in the qualification standards,” Cabral told senators.
In recent years, the number of teachers who passed the NQESH has never reached even half of the passing rate.
In 2016, the NQESH passing rate was only 2.22 percent. While it significantly increased to 24.75 percent 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.
At present, Cabral stated that at least 914 DICs are classified for principal positions.
Cabral said at least 914 DICs are currently classified for principal positions.
For 2027, DepEd requested 14,000 additional principal positions requiring an estimated P10.5 million in funding. However, the request received no allocation under the National Expenditure Program (NEP), the proposed budget submitted by the President to Congress for deliberation and approval.
Cabral said the shortage could partly be addressed through reclassification under DepEd’s Expanded Career Progression policy, which allows head teachers and assistant school principals to advance to principal positions without passing through the Master Teacher I level.
She added that the P12.09-billion allocation for the expanded career progression program could cover around 135,000 positions across three salary grades.
Meanwhile, Angara said 5,447 of the 10,000 funded school counselor associate (SCA) positions have been filled, while the remaining 4,553 are undergoing the hiring process. DepEd aims to fill all positions by the end of December.
The department received more than P2 billion under this year’s budget to hire SCAs amid a shortage of guidance counselors in public schools.
The country has been grappling with a shortage of licensed guidance counselors since at least 2019, raising concerns among lawmakers over schools’ capacity to address students’ mental health needs.
According to Angara, the Philippines had only 4,069 licensed guidance counselors as of 2019, far below the more than 50,000 needed to meet the recommended ratio of one counselor for every 250 students.