PRESIDENT Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. vowed to make education the centerpiece of his administration’s development plan, ordering tighter budget alignment and faster project rollout as the Philippines struggles with one of the world’s weakest student performance records.
Speaking at the Philippine Development Forum in Mandaluyong City on Monday, the President said the Department of Education (DepEd) would get the biggest proposed allocation in the 2026 national budget, highlighting his goal of ensuring “quality, future-proof education” for every Filipino learner.
“Every classroom built, every teacher trained, every child supported is a seed toward real, lasting progress,” he said.
The President ordered the Department of Budget and Management, Department of Economy, Planning and Development and other key agencies to focus resources on “projects that move the needle for Filipino families,” particularly in education and infrastructure.
He also ordered the Department of Public Works and Highways and DepEd to accelerate the construction and rehabilitation of thousands of classrooms by 2028 and speed up public-private partnership reviews for school facilities.
At a separate event in Pasay City, Mr. Marcos announced a P1,000 incentive for teachers in celebration of World Teachers’ Day and reaffirmed DepEd Order No. 005, which caps teaching loads at six classroom hours daily with overtime pay for extra hours.
He also touted the rollout of the Career Progression System for Public School Teachers and School Leaders Act, designed to ensure “no public school teacher will retire as Teacher I.”
“We believe that education is the best investment that any nation can make in its people,” he said.
The Philippines has consistently ranked near the bottom in global learning benchmarks. In the 2022 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), released in December 2023 by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the country placed 76th out of 81 economies in reading, mathematics and science.
While the standing was a slight improvement from its last-place finish in 2018, Filipino students’ scores were far below the OECD averages.
The Philippines posted 355 in math, 347 in reading, and 373 in science, compared with OECD averages of 472, 476, and 485, respectively.
The OECD said a 20-point gap reflects about one year of learning for a 15-year-old, underscoring the scale of the country’s education challenge. — Chloe Mari A. Hufana
