TACLOBAN CITY, LEYTE — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has issued a firm guarantee to the nation’s public school teachers: no educator will retire at the entry-level “Teacher I” position under his administration’s reformed career progression system.
Speaking at a mass oath-taking ceremony for 2,121 newly promoted teachers and school heads in Eastern Visayas on Wednesday, April 15, 2026, the President emphasized that the government is dismantling the decades-old “bottleneck” that has historically forced many talented educators to wait over 30 years for a single promotion.
The centerpiece of this reform is the Expanded Career Progression System, which provides two distinct paths for growth:
- The Classroom Path: Teachers can now advance up to Teacher VII and Master Teacher VI levels. This allows veteran educators to receive higher pay and recognition without having to leave the classroom for administrative roles.
- The Administrative Path: A streamlined track for those seeking to become school heads and principals, reaching up to School Principal V.
- Impact in Numbers: From August 2025 to April 2026 alone, over 65,000 educators nationwide have already seen their ranks elevated through these new pathways.
Accompanied by Education Secretary Sonny Angara, the President detailed several parallel initiatives aimed at easing the burden on the country’s teaching force:
- Administrative Relief: The hiring of more non-teaching personnel to handle paperwork, allowing teachers to focus on their primary mission of instruction.
- Classroom Supplies: The full release of the ₱10,000 teaching supply allowance for the 2025–2026 school year.
- OFW Reintegration: The “Sa Pinas, Ikaw ang Ma’am at Sir” (SPIMS) program continues to bring overseas Filipino workers with teaching backgrounds back into the local public school system.
The President noted that career stagnation has been a primary driver of the national teacher shortage, pushing many to seek better opportunities abroad or in different professions. By institutionalizing the ECP System, the government hopes to foster a more resilient and dedicated workforce.
“You do not only teach knowledge—you also teach discipline, perseverance, and resilience,” Marcos told the inductees. The mass promotion in Tacloban—which included 12 teachers who had served for more than three decades before their first career jump—stands as a symbolic turning point in the administration’s “Bagong Pilipinas” agenda for education.