The Department of Education will hire 32,000 new teachers in 2026, the largest single-year teacher recruitment in the department’s history, Education Undersecretary Edson Byron Sy said Saturday, as the government pushes to improve classroom ratios and reduce the burden on existing teachers.
Sy made the disclosure in an interview on DZRH News program Special on Saturday on August 1, as part of the DZRH SONA 2026 Series featuring the Department of Education (DepEd).
“Nag-request po kami ng 32,900 for this year po. And maswerte po kami na binigyan po kami ni Pangulong Marcos at ng Kongreso ng buong 32,000 po for this year,” Sy said.
He said the hiring represents a significant jump from the 19,000 teacher positions filled last year, reflecting the administration’s increased investment in education personnel.
Education Secretary Sonny Angara said the hiring drive is aimed at bringing class sizes down to the department’s new planning standards: a maximum of 35 students per Grade 1 class and 30 students per Kinder class.
“Mas maganda ang teacher-to-student ratio na po natin,” Angara said, comparing the current figures favorably to a decade ago when planning parameters allowed classes of 55 to 60 students.
Undersecretary Wilfredo Cabral confirmed the improvement in classroom ratios, saying the old maximum of 55 to 60 students per class has been replaced by a new standard with defined minimum and maximum figures.
Teacher Mariane Luchavez, a 27-year veteran who began her public school career handling Grade 1 classes of around 30 students, said teachers in Metro Manila were known to handle 50 to 60 students, spending the first 15 minutes of class just trying to restore order.
Angara said every new teacher hired means an existing teacher’s workload is reduced, directly protecting the teaching time that is central to all of DepEd’s current reforms.
He said the department is working with the Department of Budget and Management to sustain and expand the hiring pace in the years ahead, with the goal of reaching the ideal teacher-to-student ratio before the end of the Marcos administration.
