News Details

PBBM Puts Education at Forefront, Says DepEd Chief

NPO

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July 30, 2025

MANILA – President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. has given an “in-depth and genuine” focus on the country’s education sector, Education Secretary Sonny Angara said on Wednesday, following the President’s fourth State of the Nation Address (SONA).

“I’ve never heard a SONA that dwelt so much on education with so many details. It shows the depth of the President’s understanding of the sector’s problems,” Angara said during a post-SONA forum in San Juan City. He added that the President’s stance is “not cosmetic but a real, deep understanding that comes from the need to provide solutions for the youth.”

Angara outlined the administration’s priorities, including reducing teachers’ workloads, addressing classroom shortages, tackling learning loss, and resolving anomalies in the senior high school (SHS) voucher program, which has been hit by the “ghost students” controversy.

Teacher Support

To ease the burden on educators, Angara said all 40,000-plus public schools will have administrative officers by the end of 2025 to handle non-teaching tasks. Nearly 100 administrative duties have been removed from teachers’ workloads, cutting their burden by 57 percent. The non-taxable teaching supplies allowance has also been doubled to ₱10,000, while subsidies for private school teachers are set to increase from ₱18,000 to ₱24,000 in the 2026 budget.

Student Learning

To address learning loss, the Department of Education (DepEd) is implementing alternative delivery mechanisms to adapt to climate change and expanding early childcare and daycare centers in underserved areas. About 328 new child development centers are under construction, and 900 schools are piloting a revised SHS curriculum aimed at improving employability and addressing job-skills mismatch.

Accountability Measures

Angara also reported progress in the probe into anomalies in the SHS voucher program, with recoverable funds from “ghost students” now estimated at around ₱100 million. Both civil and criminal cases have been filed to recover public funds and deter future abuses.

DepEd said about 2 million newly-procured laptops have been distributed to teachers and learners nationwide with the assistance of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

NPO News Team

PNA-PR