We have great news for our beloved public school teachers!

True to his 2024 State of the Nation Address (SONA) promise of supporting and uplifting the lives of our country’s public school teachers, President Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos Jr. (PBBM), through the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), has approved several initiatives.

The first is the creation of 16,000 new teaching positions for School Year (SY) 2025-2026, in line with PBBM’s directive to strengthen the education sector and ensure sufficient manpower in public schools. This forms part of the 20,000 new teaching positions approved by the DBM for creation this Fiscal Year (FY) 2025.

As PBBM emphasized in his SONA, “The quality of our education rests on the quality of our teachers. Every classroom that we build will be but an empty and lifeless structure without its moving force — the teacher...they are the very foundation of our educational system.”

Thus, the PBBM administration is committed to ensuring that our children have teachers who will focus, guide, and assist in their learning journey. With this, our government is serious about uplifting the quality of our educational system and providing better quality of life for our teachers.

According to the Department of Education (DepEd), over 27.012 million students are enrolled in the primary and secondary schools nationwide for SY 2024-2025. This figure includes students from public and private schools, as well as those in the Alternative Learning System (ALS).

As such, the 16,000 newly created teaching positions will support the Department of Education's (DepEd's) efforts to boost the government’s teaching workforce across levels, from Kindergarten, Elementary, Junior High School (JHS), to Senior High School (SHS), and the ALS. The ₱4.194 billion needed to fund the approved new items will come from DepEd’s built-in appropriations under the FY 2025 General Appropriations Act (GAA), specifically earmarked for hiring new school personnel.

The approved new positions include 15,343 Teacher I with Salary Grade (SG) 11 for Kinder, Elementary, JHS, SHS, and ALS; 157 Special Science Teachers (SST) I, with Salary Grade 13, for SHS; and 500 Special Education Teachers with Salary Grade 14 for Kinder, Elem, and JHS.

I am glad to note that the creation of the SST I positions will accommodate Department of Science and Technology scholars who will comply with the Return of Service Condition of their scholarship. Meanwhile, the DepEd opted for the creation of Teacher I items for SHS in SY2025, in consideration of the impending implementation of the teacher Career Progression, increase in the provision of teaching items, and the available pool of qualified teacher applicants for SHS.

For added flexibility, the SHS teaching positions will be created at the Division Level, allowing School Division Superintendents to transfer or reassign teachers to schools they are most needed. This arrangement, approved by DBM in 2016, helps prevent duplication and ensures efficient deployment.

Furthermore, as provided under existing policies and in accordance with the election ban from March 28 to May 11, 2025, the release of appointments and Notices of Organization, Staffing, and Compensation Action takes effect only after the election period.

Increasing teachers’ and other poll workers’ allowance

Meanwhile, we also announced that poll workers, which include teachers, will get a ₱1,000 across-the-board additional compensation for serving during the May 12, 2025 Mid-Term Elections. With this, the DBM approved the release of ₱758.459 million to cover the budgetary requirement, chargeable against the Contingent Fund under the Continuing Appropriations of the FY 2024 GAA.

This increase is on top of the ₱2,000 across-the-board election allowance increase we announced on May 9, which was funded under the FY 2025 GAA.

These additional election allowances are in compliance with PBBM’s order to recognize the indispensable role of poll workers and teachers as frontliners in safeguarding the Filipino people’s right to vote. Our government is listening, especially to the plea of our teachers, most of whom, during their service at the recently concluded elections, had to go home in the wee hours of the morning to ensure that our votes are counted and protected. I believe this is the least we can do to honor their invaluable and dedicated service.

According to the Commission on Elections, there was a total of 758,549 poll workers during the 2025 national and local elections, who shall receive their election allowance, including the announced increases, within 10 days after the National and Local Elections.

Beyond budget, the increase in DepEd positions and poll workers’ allowances are realizations of PBBM’s commitment to provide the needed support for the welfare of our teachers. We, at the DBM, are one with this thrust. Rest assured that we will continue to champion initiatives for our teachers who toil non-stop to create a conducive environment for learning and who do their best to keep our elections orderly, just, and honest in our Bagong Pilipinas.