75% of PH Public School Teachers Teach Outside Specialization, Raising Education Quality Concerns

About three in four public school teachers in the Philippines are teaching subjects outside their areas of specialization, according to a report by the Philippine Business for Education (PBEd). In its "2026 State of Philippine Education" report released Tuesday, PBEd stated that 75% of public school teachers are assigned to subjects beyond their field of expertise. While the government has created thousands of new teaching positions, the business-led education advocacy group noted that the country still faces a shortage of around 23,000 teachers, forcing many schools to assign teachers outside their specialization. The group emphasized that teacher specialization is critical to improving foundational learning, particularly as Filipino learners continue to struggle in national and international assessments. "Education reform cannot simply be a program that matures five or 10 years from now. A child gets only one First Grade, only one Sixth Grade, and only one chance to graduate from high school prepared for what comes next," said PBEd Chairman Ramon del Rosario Jr. during the report's launch. PBEd identified teacher quality as one of the country's long-standing education concerns, alongside classroom shortages, weak foundational skills, poor nutrition, and the mismatch between education and labor market needs. "Thirty-five years is long enough to diagnose the crisis. The next chapter must be about execution," Del Rosario urged, calling for sustained reforms. The organization called for sustained reforms to strengthen teacher development, improve recruitment and deployment, and ensure education policies remain consistent across administrations.