The House of Representatives’ Committee on Appropriations conducted an oversight hearing to examine the Department of Education’s (DepEd) budget utilization, revealing 22,000 unfilled teacher positions, a Mindoro lawmaker said yesterday.

Oriental Mindoro First District Representative Arnan C. Panaligan, who participated in the hearing, emphasized two key points during his interpellation of DepEd officials.

“First, DepEd should have made efforts to fill these vacant positions, especially given our significant teacher shortage,” Panaligan reported in a post on his FB page. “Many teachers are overloaded with work and handling multi-grade classes due to the lack of educators, which affects the quality of teaching.”

The hearing, held during the first week of Congress reopening, aimed to assess how the education department used the budget allocated by lawmakers.

Panaligan added, “Second, these 22,000 vacant teacher positions are in DepEd’s plantilla, meaning Congress has already allocated corresponding funds for these positions. However, this budget is being wasted instead of being allocated to other important programs.”

The revelation of thousands of unfilled teaching positions comes amid ongoing concerns about the quality of education in the Philippines, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on learning, according to reports.

The oversight hearing is part of the legislature’s efforts to ensure efficient use of public funds and address critical issues in the education sector. It remains unclear how DepEd plans to address the teacher shortage and utilize the allocated budget effectively.