SENATE Majority Leader Joel Villanueva asked the Department of Education the measures the agency is implementing to solve the shortage of teachers in the country.

During the deliberation of DepEd’s 2024 proposed budget, Villanueva said that 1,500 teachers left the country from 2013 to 2017 based on the data of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration.

He also cited an Asian Development Bank study that showed that the teacher to student ratio in the Philippines is greater than its Asian neighbors Brunei, Malaysia and Singapore.

Villanueva also took note of the agency’s proposed P5.7 billion allocation to hire 20,000 teachers for next year.

“What is the ideal teacher to student ratio and how many teachers do we need to reach such ratio? And what is going to be the effect of the hiring target of 20,000 teachers for 2024 to address the shortage of teachers in public schools?” the majority leader asked.

DepEd Undersecretary Gloria Jumamil-Mercado told senators that the country needs 86,000 teachers to reach the ideal 1:30 teacher-student ratio.