Schools urged to adopt flexible learning strategies

MANILA, Philippines —  To cope with government-declared class suspensions caused by heavy rains and flooding, the Catholic Educational Association of the Philippines (CEAP) has urged its member schools to adopt flexible learning strategies and ensure learning continuity.

In a statement posted on its Facebook page Tuesday, CEAP encouraged schools to implement measures that would allow students to continue their lessons despite disruptions.

“We urge all CEAP member schools to institutionalize learning continuity and recovery plans to ensure education does not stop despite government-declared class suspensions,” the association said.

“Let us adopt flexible learning strategies and remedial programs to keep students on track with their academic progress,” it added.

CEAP further emphasized that schools should view the suspension of classes as opportunities to explore alternative methods.

“Together, we can uphold quality Catholic education by turning disruptions into opportunities for resilience and innovation,” the group said.

The national government and several local government units recently suspended classes due to heavy flooding triggered by continuous rains.

According to its website, CEAP is a voluntary organization with more than 1,525 member schools and over 120 superintendents of Catholic schools nationwide. It operates through regional educational associations in the country’s 17 regions.

Shortage of principals

Speaking at a forum in Quezon City, Department of Education (DepEd) Bureau of Human Resource and Organizational Development officer-in-charge Dexter Pante revealed on Wednesday that more than half of the country’s schools are operating without principals.

Citing data from the Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM 2), he said the shortage undermines instructional oversight and school management.

“No less than President Marcos has issued a directive for DepEd to provide principals for every school in the country and this directive arose from the data coming from EDCOM 2, which says that more than half of our schools in the Philippines operate without school principals,” Pante said.

He explained that low passing rates in the principal qualifying exam, combined with high turnover, a limited pool of candidates and delays in hiring have contributed to the shortage.

Career progression for teachers is also slow, with promotions from Teacher 1 to Teacher 3 taking about 15 years.

To address this, Pante said DepEd is implementing the expanded career progression system under Executive Order 174, which establishes separate tracks for teaching and school leadership.

“The objective of this expanded career progression is to address the long-standing complaint of our teachers that there is very little movement or there’s stagnant teacher promotion and leadership gap in our system,” he said.

The department is also planning to open around 6,000 new Principal 1 positions.

“Hopefully, if we are able to reclassify all the affected qualified head teachers and assistant principal positions and fill up the 6,000 newly created principals in 2026, that will allow us to reach one is to one principal to school ratio,” he said, calling the move a significant step toward improving school leadership and performance.   –  Bella Cariaso