Education Secretary Sonny Angara said the Department of Education’s record P1.015 trillion budget for 2026 will allow the promotion of about 100,000 public school teachers and the hiring of 65,100 teaching and non-teaching personnel.
Angara thanked President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Congress for the unprecedented allocation, noting that limited career advancement has long pushed teachers to leave public service.
Under the Expanded Career Progression program, more than 16,000 teachers have already been promoted, with over 41,000 more lined up.
The 30 percent budget increase also enables major spending on key programs, including the School-Based Feeding Program, whose budget rose to over P25 billion, and the fully funded P9 billion ARAL Program for free tutorials nationwide.
The 2026 budget will also fund the construction of about 24,000 classrooms, with DepEd and local government units now allowed to build alongside DPWH, marking a major shift in classroom delivery.IMT
