SENATOR Sherwin Gatchalian renewed his call on the Department of Education to accelerate the hiring process for teachers following the approval by the Department of Budget and Management of more than 32,000 teaching positions for School Year 2026-2027.

Under the 2026 national budget, P42.4 billion has been allocated for the hiring of 32,916 teaching positions, including 32,047 Teacher I items.

During previous national budget deliberations, Gatchalian pointed out that the DepEd’s teacher hiring process could take up to six months due to the involvement of other agencies such as the DBM and the Civil Service Commission.

In 2024, the DepEd issued DepEd Order No. 021, series of 2024, to ensure the timely and efficient filling of vacant positions.

“Hindi matutugunan ang krisis sa edukasyon kung kulang ang mga gurong humuhubog sa kinabukasan ng ating mga kabataan. Kapag kapos sa guro ang ating mga paaralan, ang direktang naaapektuhan ay ang kalidad ng pagkatuto ng bawat mag-aaral,” ani Gatchalian.