SENATE President Sherwin Gatchalian has raised concern over the persistent shortage of school principals in public schools, noting that around 23,000 of the country’s 45,928 public schools remain without formally designated school heads.

Gatchalian flagged the leadership gap amid the absence of funding for the creation of new school principal positions in the proposed 2027 national budget.

The Department of Education (DepEd) had requested an additional P10.52 billion to create 14,126 School Principal I positions to address the shortage.

Gatchalian stressed that school principals play a crucial role in providing effective school leadership, supervising teachers, and boosting teacher morale to improve learning outcomes.

Meanwhile, Education Undersecretary Wilfredo Cabral said the DepEd could fill some vacant principal positions through the reclassification of qualified head teachers and teachers-in-charge under the Expanded Career Progression System.

The program has been allocated P12.09 billion under the proposed 2027 National Expenditure Program (NEP).

The proposed reclassification is among the measures being considered to address the shortage of school heads, although the extent to which it can close the leadership gap remains to be determined.

The issue underscores the need to ensure that public schools have qualified and formally designated leaders who can guide teachers, oversee school operations, and help improve the quality of education nationwide.