Department of Education (DepEd) Secretary Sonny Angara said the department’s record-high budget allocation will allow the historic hiring of 65,100 teaching and non-teaching plantilla personnel, as well as the long-awaited promotion of approximately 100,000 public school teachers.

In a press briefing in Malacañang on Tuesday, Angara thanked President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. as well as Congress for the PhP1.015 trillion Deped budget under the PhP6.793 trillion national budget for 2026.

Angara said the lack of career advancement has been a major reason why many public school teachers leave.

“Pero dito sa binigay na budget—kaya nga unprecedented din po in terms of promotions—kasi makakapag-promote tayo ng over 100,000 (public school teachers) with the budget given by Congress this year,” Angara said.

Under the Expanded Career Progression (ECP) implemented under Angara’s leadership, DepEd has promoted 16,025 teachers, with 41,183 more teachers processed for the next batch of promotion.

“Ito iyong rason kung bakit umaalis ang ating mga teachers, dahil sa pakiramdam po nila hindi sila na-appreciate ng pamahalaan, hindi sila napo-promote nang husto – halos isang dekada hindi na-promote, hindi tumataas ang suweldo,” Angara explained.

The 30 percent increase in the DepEd’s budget was the biggest increase he has seen in his political career, Angara said.

For the first time, the country met the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) global benchmark for education spending that recommends that countries allocate at least 4 to 6 percent of the Gross Domestic Product or GDP to education.

With its historic budget, Angara said DepEd will boost spending on very important programs, such as the School-based Feeding Program whose budget increased from PhP3 billion last year to over PhP25 billion this year.

The DepEd will also fully fund the Academic Recovery and Accessible Learning (ARAL) Program that provides free tutorials and learning interventions to help struggling students catch up to grade-level standards, especially in Math, Science, and Reading.

“For the first time, binigyan po tayo ng PhP9 billion so lahat po ng eskuwelahan mayroon na tayong tutor under the ARAL Program,” Angara said.

The 2026 DepEd budget also allocated funds for the construction of 24,000 classrooms, far exceeding the original allocation of 5,000 to 6,000 new classrooms.

Angara said for the first time, classroom construction will no longer be undertaken solely by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

“So ngayon, mayroon tayong flexibility provision na aside from DPWH, even DepEd, even local government units… And the majority of the projected 20,000 plus classrooms will be built by our local government units or bidded out by our local government units,” said Angara. | PND