DBM releases P9.52 B for hiring of more teachers

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) turned over P9.52 billion to the Department of Education (DepEd) in January to cover the hiring of 31,335 elementary and secondary teachers for the coming school year.

The DepEd expects all teaching positions filled out by April 1, 2014, in time for the beginning of classes.

The move is also in line with the Aquino administration’s goal to ramp up education reform in the country.

Of the 31,335 positions, 13,738 new teachers will be hired at the elementary level (Grades 1 to 6), while 17,597 personnel are designated at the secondary level (Grades 7 and 8, YR III and IV).

Region IV-A will hire the most number of teachers with 4,809 positions, followed by Region III with 3,754 and Region VII with 3,425 future hires.

“Hiring more teachers is essential to the Administration’s goal of improving the teacher-to-student ratio in our education system. For a long time, Philippine public schools were crippled by a shortage of teachers who can amply guide our schoolchildren in their academic pursuits,” Budget Secretary Florencio “Butch” Abad said.

DepEd has set standards to determine teacher requirements for different levels of education, such as setting the teacher-pupil ratio of one teacher for an ideal number of students per class.