More than half of public schools in the country have no designated principal, with only 3,000 new school head positions proposed in the 2027 national budget.
The Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM 2) said the proposed positions would barely address the shortage, warning that thousands of schools would continue operating without full-time principals.
DepEd data showed that only 21,660 of the country’s 48,113 public schools, or 45%, were headed by Principal I to IV as of January 2026.
The remaining 26,453 schools were being led by head teachers or other personnel. Of these, 13,313 had no principal or head teacher position at all.
EDCOM 2 identified 3,765 high-need schools with at least nine teachers but no principal or head teacher.
One example is Koronadal National Comprehensive High School in South Cotabato, where a teacher serving as officer-in-charge oversees 402 teachers and 10,602 learners.
The commission said the lack of designated school heads leaves teachers carrying administrative and leadership responsibilities on top of their regular teaching duties.
“Every principal post we leave unfunded is a school where teachers carry leadership work on top of a full teaching load,” said EDCOM 2 Executive Director Dr. Karol Mark Yee.
EDCOM 2 estimates that 7,379 additional principal positions are needed to address the shortage in 8,888 priority schools, even after accounting for 1,149 existing vacancies.
The first-year salaries for these positions would require P5.493 billion.
The commission is asking Congress to fund at least 5,000 additional School Principal I positions in 2027, on top of the 3,000 already proposed, to meet the target of 8,000 new positions.
It also urged the Department of Education to prioritize the 3,765 high-need schools and fill the 5,157 vacant principal positions created in the 2026 budget.
Of the 6,000 principal positions created for 2026, only 843 had been filled as of September 30.IMT
