WATCH: How DepEd plans to address lack of 25,000 school principals

Education Secretary Sonny Angara explains that one of the reasons for the shortage of principals in the country is that only a few candidates pass the qualifying exam

MANILA, Philippines – Education Secretary Sonny Angara outlined the plan of the Department of Education (DepEd) to address the shortage of nearly 25,000 school principals, which was one of the recent findings of the Second Congressional Commission on Education.

In a Rappler Talk interview on Tuesday, February 18, Angara explained that one of the reasons for the shortage of principals in the country is that only a few candidates are able to pass the qualifying exam.

“Ang passing rate do’n parang 20-plus percent lang ang pumapasa. So may backlog tayo ng qualified applicants diyan,” Angara said. (The passing rate there is only about 20-plus percent. So we have a backlog of qualified applicants there.)

He also cited a policy, instituted back in 2010, stating that a cluster of three small schools will share one principal.

That policy will no longer be in effect, as the DepEd is now aiming for a 1:1 principal-to-school ratio by 2026, with possibly 15,000 added in 2025. However, in the Rappler Talk interview, Angara admitted that this goal might be optimistic.

Watch the excerpt in the video above, and the full episode below.

– Rappler.com