EDCOM 2 urges funding for principal-less schools

The Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM 2) has urged the government to fund new school principal positions in 2027, after the proposed national budget allotted nothing for DepEd’s request to create more than 14,000 posts despite a nationwide shortage affecting about 23,000 public schools.

EDCOM 2 Executive Director Karol Mark Yee said the 2027 budget should prioritize schools without either type of school head, citing the need for stronger leadership amid the country’s learning crisis.

“It is imperative that the 2027 budget considers this large shortfall, even prioritizing our 13,313 schools without either a school principal or even head teacher,” Yee said.

Yee also urged the Department of Education (DepEd) to review the implementation of its 2010 guidelines and strengthen monitoring and accountability across schools.

DepEd sought P10.5 billion for the new positions, but the proposed 2027 National Expenditure Program did not include funding for the request.

During the 16 October Senate budget hearing, Education Undersecretary Wilfredo Cabral reported that only about 22,000 of the country’s 45,928 public schools had formal principal positions.

Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian criticized the lack of funding, saying the proposed budget would not provide new principal positions for any of the schools affected by the shortage.

“And next year this is the problem—walang budget. There is no budget for creation of new school principal positions. None of the 23,000 na walang principals is budgeted,” Gatchalian said.

The shortage persists despite efforts to create and fill positions. The Department of Budget and Management approved 6,000 additional School Principal I posts for 2026, but only about 2,000 had been filled. Another 914 teachers-in-charge had been reclassified into principal positions.

EDCOM 2 also found gaps in the implementation of DepEd’s 2010 guidelines, which require schools with at least nine teachers to have a principal and those with at least six teachers to have a head teacher.

Among schools with nine to 24 teachers, 3,038 had neither a principal nor a head teacher, while 4,674 had only head teacher positions despite meeting the staffing threshold for a principal.

Among schools with more than 25 teachers, 727 had neither position and 449 had only head teachers.

In total, 13,313 public schools had neither a principal nor a head teacher, based on EDCOM 2’s analysis of DepEd enrollment data for school year 2025-2026 and personnel data for school year 2023-2024.

Cabral said DepEd would rely on the P12.09-billion allocation under the Expanded Career Progression framework to reclassify eligible head teachers and teachers-in-charge.