- Ilocos Norte adds 161 new posts for School Year 2025–2026, primarily non-teaching roles, to boost school efficiency and reduce teacher admin workload.
- DepEd directive supports national effort to prioritize hiring of support staff, aligning with DBM’s approval for 16,000 new teachers and 10,000 non-teaching hires nationwide.
- Move aims to improve education quality, allowing teachers to focus on instruction while enhancing school operations across all levels in the province.
In a major bid to enhance the education structure in Ilocos Norte, 161 new posts have been established under the Schools Division of Ilocos Norte (SDOIN) for School Year 2025-2026. Most of these posts will go to non-teaching staff, a tactical decision meant to enhance institution capacity and relieve teaching personnel of the administration workload in schools throughout the province.
Valerie Talamayan, information officer of the division, affirmed that these new positions will be allocated to the elementary, junior high school, and senior high school levels in the division, including posts at the SDOIN office itself.
As of now, the DepEd-Ilocos Norte has a total of 5,165 personnel, including 4,176 teaching and 989 non-teaching personnel. The increase in the number of non-teaching positions is an extension of a wider policy change launched by the Department of Education's Central Office, which previously sent out a memorandum ordering its regional and field offices to fill all available teaching positions and give priority to the recruitment of support staff.
This directive is also intimately connected with the national initiative to free teachers from non-teaching responsibilities, so they may focus more intensively on lesson planning, student contact, and professional growth.
This is part of a broader national effort by the Department of Budget and Management, which has given the approval for the hiring of 16,000 more teachers and 10,000 non-teaching staff for the coming school year. The plan supports the instruction of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., who has underscored the importance of simplifying administrative workload in the education sector and establishing a setting where teachers can excel in teaching.
By deploying additional support staff, schools are now in a position to provide for the efficient completion of crucial but time-consuming administrative and operational responsibilities without diverting teachers from their prime duties. The growth of non-teaching positions is viewed as an indispensable move to enhance the overall quality of education and ensure a more productive and supportive school environment for both learners and teachers. With this new development, SDOIN is about to improve its operational capability, which in turn benefits students from Ilocos Norte.
