EDCOM 2 FLAGS 261 INTERAGENCY ROLES AS DEPED’S FOCUS ON BASIC EDUCATION STRETCHES THIN
/ 1 November 2025
THE SECOND Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM 2) has raised concerns over the overwhelming number of interagency commitments currently shouldered by the Department of Education, warning that the burden has diluted the agency’s ability to focus on its core mandate—delivering quality basic education.
During an EDCOM 2 hearing on DepEd’s charter and mandates, Education Secretary Juan Edgardo Angara revealed that the Department currently participates in 261 interagency bodies, chairs at least 20, and co-participates in 21 others alongside the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA).
This figure represents a dramatic increase from the 63 interagency bodies initially reported in EDCOM 2’s Year One Report, “Miseducation: The Failed System of Philippine Education.”
EDCOM 2 highlighted that the trifocalization of the former Department of Education, Culture and Sports in 1994—into DepEd, CHED, and TESDA—was meant to allow DepEd to concentrate on addressing functional literacy among Filipinos.
The first Congressional Commission on Education in 1993 had identified 14.5 million functionally illiterate Filipinos, and the restructuring aimed to narrow DepEd’s focus to tackling that issue.
However, 30 years later, despite the reform, the number of functionally illiterate individuals has nearly doubled to 24.8 million, according to the 2024 Functional Literacy, Education and Mass Media Survey.
Since 2001, more than 150 new laws and executive issuances have been enacted, expanding DepEd’s responsibilities far beyond classroom instruction.
Angara described the current state as “coordination spread thin.”
EDCOM 2 Executive Director Dr. Karol Mark Yee echoed this concern, noting that the expanding list of mandates has not only stretched DepEd’s central office but also burdened schools and teachers.
“Teachers are now tasked with additional responsibilities such as implementing vision screening programs under RA 11358, coordinating Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program requirements under RA 11310, managing canteens and feeding programs, and even acting as Disaster Risk Reduction and Management coordinators,” Yee said.
He added that these non-teaching tasks consume a significant portion of teachers’ time, diverting attention from classroom instruction and further undermining learning outcomes.
In response, DepEd reported ongoing efforts to streamline participation in interagency bodies by organizing them under an Education Cluster within the Office of the President’s Cabinet.
The agency also assigns Executive Committee members to lead or represent DepEd in key councils and limits involvement to high-impact, mission-aligned bodies.
DepEd is exploring the hiring of additional administrative personnel to ease the workload of teachers. Secretary Angara announced that the Department aims to ensure every public school has at least one administrative officer by 2026.
DepEd also reported that its growing list of mandates now includes 21 laws on curriculum and teaching, 10 on culture and civics, and 18 on health and safety, as well as hundreds of laws creating or converting schools.
However, many of these remain unfunded, including the Academic Recovery and Accessible Learning Program under RA 12028, the Alternative Learning System under RA 11510, and Mental Health and Well-Being Promotion under RA 12080.
