Press Release - EDCOM 2: DepEd to address teacher mismatch, quizzed on low utilization rate in House budget hearing

Department of Education (DepEd) Secretary Sonny Angara indicated the department's plan to modify its hiring form to indicate the subject which prospective teachers will be assigned to. This is after a Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM 2) report that 62% of teachers are handling subjects that they did not major in college.

During the House Committee on Appropriations hearing on the DepEd budget on August 2, EDCOM 2 Co-Chairperson Rep. Roman Romulo prodded that the subject-teacher mismatch is partly because of the form used by the Department for hiring.

"When you hire, ang posting po ninyo ay 'Teacher 1'. Hindi niyo sinasabi kung ano 'yung subject. And that is why a History major in college applies for that, pagdating nila, bigla na lang ang ipapaturo niyo ay Filipino", Romulo remarked.

"Babaguhin po namin 'yun", Sec. Angara said.

"Babaguhin niyo yung form? So that every teacher who applies will know kung ano ba yung subject na ituturo niya. That is correct", Rep. Romulo agreed.

EDCOM 2 findings presented in an August 29 hearing of the House Basic Education Committee found that 98% of teachers teaching Physical Sciences, or Physics, did not have a background in the field. Likewise, 51% of Science teachers did not match the specialization they studied during college.

The EDCOM 2 findings also follow a World Bank finding in 2016 that highlighted the low content knowledge of high school teachers. When tested in English and Math Grade 10 teachers scored below 50% in both domains, and below 30% in Filipino and Science.

EDCOM 2 Executive Director Dr. Karol Mark Yee highlighted the need to have a mechanism to align specializations needed in public schools to those offered in colleges and universities, which is the domain of the Commission on Higher Education.

Inefficiency, low utilization rate quizzed

DepEd faced intense scrutiny during its 2025 budget hearing in the House of Representatives during the budget hearing, as it was revealed that nearly ?9 billion worth of laptops and e-learning equipment intended for 2023 remained undelivered.

The delays in delivering essential ICT resources were seen by Batangas 2nd District Rep. Gerville Luistro as a