THE DEPARTMENT of Education (DepEd) on Friday welcomed the approval of 22,268 new non-teaching positions to ease the workload of teachers.

The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) approved the creation of the said non-teaching positions for the fiscal year (FY) 2026, to ensure that schools have dedicated support staff and improve school operations across the country.

The initiative is in line with the directives of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. to uphold the welfare of public school educators by reducing their administrative workload.

In a statement, DepEd Secretary Sonny Angara lauded the DBM for its timely move, which will help teachers to focus on classroom teaching.

“Nagpapasalamat kami kay Pangulong Marcos at sa DBM dahil malaking tulong ito upang maibsan ang mga gawaing administratibo ng ating mga guro (We thank President Marcos and the DBM because this is a big help in reducing the administrative tasks of our teachers),” Angara said.

“Sa pamamagitan ng mga bagong posisyong ito, mas makatututok na ang ating mga titser sa pagtuturo at sa pagpapataas ng kalidad ng edukasyon sa bansa(Through these newly created positions, our teachers can better focus on teaching and raising the quality of education in the country).”

The allocation consists of 6,000 School Principal I, 11,268 Administrative Officer II, and 5,000 Project Development Officer I positions for elementary and secondary levels.

In terms of distribution, regional offices will issue the corresponding notice of organization, staffing and compensation actions to expedite deployment, according to the DBM.

Earlier, the DBM had already approved 32,916 new teaching positions to address public school teacher shortages.

The funding for the new positions will be charged against the DepEd’s built-in appropriations under the FY 2026 General Appropriations Act. (PNA)