The Department of Education (DepEd) on Friday, Jan. 31, announced its plan to implement a 1:1 principal-to-school policy in line with the administration’s commitment to strengthening the education sector.
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“Gagawa tayo at mag-dedeploy ng School Principal items sa mga paaralan na wala nito (We will create and deploy School Principal positions to schools that do not have them),” DepEd Education Secretary Sonny Angara said in a statement.
Angara explained that DepEd’s current policy does not automatically assign one school head per school. “Babaguhin natin ito. Basta may school, may principal dapat (We will change this. If there is a school, there should be a principal),” he added.
DepEd also plans to assess the distribution of qualified principals across regions to address the shortage of school principals in public schools nationwide.
This initiative, DepEd said, is in response to the Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM II) Year 2 report, which found that 24,916 public schools currently lack school heads.
Addressing the lack of school heads
DepEd noted that in the Philippine education system, school heads play a crucial role in providing instructional leadership, managing school operations, ensuring the effective implementation of policies, and fostering a supportive learning environment that enhances both teacher performance and student outcomes.
To tackle this issue, DepEd intends to focus on advancing and reclassifying qualified Head Teachers and Teachers-in-Charge into official principal roles.
DepEd also plans to evaluate regions with an excess of qualified principal applicants and create strategies to equitably distribute them to areas facing shortages.
“Kailangan din natin makita ang overall distribution (We also need to assess the overall distribution),” Angara said.
“Saan may regions na may oversupply ng qualified principals? Paano ma-i-distribute ito while being fair to the principal applicants (Where are the regions with an oversupply of qualified principals? How can this be distributed fairly to the principal applicants?)” he added.
Qualifying exams
DepEd said it is also working on a plan to decentralize the National Qualifying Examination for School Heads (NQESH), ensuring a consistent standard across all divisions and regions while enhancing accessibility for prospective school leaders.
Moreover, DepEd is exploring the possibility of offering the NQESH more frequently and expanding targeted training programs through the National Educators Academy of the Philippines (NEAP) to better support teachers aspiring to become principals.
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