- PBEd urges DepEd to decentralize decision-making, giving schools autonomy to address local learning gaps and resource needs.
- Report highlights major teacher-subject mismatch 62% teaching outside their specialization and calls for improved hiring alignment.
- DepEd Secretary Sonny Angara welcomes the push, affirming a gradual shift toward school-level empowerment and funding control.
Nonprofit organization Philippine Business for Education (PBEd) is calling on the Department of Education (DepEd) to decentralize decision-making in addressing learning gaps, citing that one-size-fits-all solutions cannot be used in dealing with the diverse issues of schools nationwide.
PBEd called this out in a forum last Monday, July 7, when the organization submitted its report entitled "2025 State of Philippine Education.
"We need an education reform that goes beyond and above administrations. Six years is not long enough to resolve problems of a generation. This translates to setting up systems that allow for continuity and local ownership", PBEd executive director Bal Camua stated.
PBEd, which was established in 2006 by the nation's business leaders, added that local government units and schools can "tailor responses to stunting, nutrition, and early childhood needs based on actual conditions something the central office cannot easily do".
The group also expressed that school administrators or principals should have "greater autonomy" in hiring, budgeting, and deployment of teachers because they are the ones who understand what they need.
For instance, the Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM 2) noted a mismatch of teachers with their subject assignments that impacts learning outcomes among students greatly. As per the report, 62% or about 6 out of 10 teachers in public high schools are teaching subjects for which they didn't major while in college.
The report relied on DepEd data involving a sample of 700,000 public school teachers that were analyzed by EDCOM 2.
EDCOM 2 has called on the DepEd and Commission on Higher Education to chart teacher demand and supply and scrutinize recruitment guidelines. This means evaluating teacher distribution, field of specialization, and gaps in skills, as well as job announcements being specific enough to entice qualified applicants. Local school administrators can also play an important part by taking part in the hiring to ensure recruitment is better matched to their real needs.
Today, too many school heads are still simply administrators and not leaders. They are tasked without actual authority and frequently do not have the tools to drive learning improvement initiatives in their own schools", Camua added.
Further, PBEd emphasized that providing schools with more autonomy over their maintenance and other operating costs or MOOE would allow for quicker and more pertinent spending on textbooks, repairs, and remediation programs. “Decentralization is not just an option, it is a necessity”, said Camua.
In a text message to Rappler on Tuesday, July 8, Education Secretary Sonny Angara welcomed PBEd’s suggestion, saying that the DepEd would slowly transition to decentralization. “We’re moving in that direction actually. School empowerment in terms of decision-making and funding”, Angara said.
