# National Education Plan 2026-2035: Guide for School Heads

EDCOM II's National Education Plan 2026-2035 for NASH takers, with DepEd data: six priority areas, a 75% reading target for 2028, a principal in every school.

This is the Markdown copy of [National Education Plan 2026-2035: Guide for School Heads](https://nash.com.ph/blog/national-education-plan-2026-2035), an article on the NASH Reviewer Blog by Mark Anthony Llego, published Oct 25, 2026, updated Nov 4, 2026. Topics: Aspiring school heads. NASH Reviewer is an independent practice platform not affiliated with DepEd, BHROD, or NEAP.

The National Education Plan 2026-2035 is the ten-year roadmap in the EDCOM II Final Report. Its six Key Priority Areas carry targets such as 75% of Key Stage 1 learners reading at grade level by 2028 and a principal item in every school, and DepEd's public school-level data show the starting point. This guide is written for teachers preparing for the National Assessment for School Heads (NASH), formerly the National Qualifying Examination for School Heads (NQESH).

EDCOM II calls the plan the NatPlan. It is the roadmap that closes *Turning Point: A Decade of Necessary Reform (2026-2035)*, the Final Report of the Second Congressional Commission on Education, EDCOM II (also written EDCOM 2), published in January 2026. Republic Act No. 11899, Section 7, required the Commission's final report to "include a roadmap with clear key performance indicators and results framework to address the learning crisis". The NatPlan is that roadmap. It has a mission for 2035, six Key Priority Areas, twenty priority recommendations, and for every outcome a baseline, targets for 2028, 2031 and 2035, and the agency that owns them.

The plan's mission is one sentence: "By 2035, the Philippine education system will be integrated, responsive, and data-driven, preparing every Filipino citizen with the fundamental skills to progress in learning, work, and life." If you are preparing for the NASH, the plan's ten years are the first ten years of your career as a principal. Its targets for reading, numeracy, classrooms, connectivity, inclusion and school leadership will reach you as division targets, School Improvement Plan indicators and commitments in the Office Performance Commitment and Review Form (OPCRF). Two parts of the report concern you directly. Recommendation 6.1.2 plans a School Principal plantilla item for every DepEd-managed school by 2028, and the chapter *The Filipino Learner Today* describes the learners you will be accountable for.

DepEd describes the NASH as "a developmental assessment tool designed to evaluate the readiness of aspiring school heads and identify areas for improvement". The assessment determines a participant's competency level "to assess whether they are prepared for a school leadership role or require targeted interventions before assuming the position". Under [DepEd Memorandum No. 069, s. 2025](https://www.deped.gov.ph/2025/08/11/august-11-2025-dm-069-s-2025-administration-of-the-national-assessment-for-school-heads-for-fiscal-year-2025/), it covers the Philippine Professional Standards for School Heads (PPSSH) through conceptual and situational critical-thinking questions built on the SOLO (Structure of Observed Learning Outcomes) taxonomy.

The first PPSSH domain asks a Career Stage 1 school head for two things. Indicator 1.3.1 asks the school head to "demonstrate knowledge and understanding of policy implementation and review to ensure that school operations are consistent with national and local laws, regulations and issuances". Indicator 1.4.1 asks the school head to "identify relevant research findings from reliable sources in facilitating data-driven and evidence-based innovations to improve school performance". The NatPlan is the policy agenda that the next decade of DepEd issuances will carry out, and it rests on 102 commissioned studies. It is exactly the kind of source the standards expect you to know.

The sections below explain how the plan is built, what each Key Priority Area asks of a school, and what the national targets mean at the scale of one school, with the starting point in DepEd's public school-level data, which the eleven [data reports](https://nash.com.ph/deped-data) in this series analyze. The companion [guide to the EDCOM II Final Report](https://nash.com.ph/blog/edcom-ii-final-report) covers the Commission's findings; this one covers the plan.

## Key findings

- **The plan is a results framework with a target for every outcome.** Every outcome has a baseline, targets for 2028, 2031 and 2035, and a lead agency. The milestone years match national and local election cycles, so that each administration inherits a measurable checkpoint. Six Key Priority Areas hold 20 priority recommendations. Basic education takes 60.8% of the PHP 2.66 trillion in incremental cost (National Education Plan document, p. 111).
- **The targets your school will carry are early-grade targets.** The share of Key Stage 1 learners reading at grade level on the end-of-year Comprehensive Rapid Literacy Assessment (CRLA) is to rise from 47.74% in SY 2024-2025 to 75% by 2028, 90% by 2031 and 95% by 2035. Numeracy on the Rapid Mathematics Assessment (RMA) is to rise from 40.49% to 65%, 75% and 85%. Grade 3 learners at least proficient on the Early Language, Literacy, and Numeracy Assessment (ELLNA) are to rise from 30.52% to 50%, 70% and 90%. Reaching 75% by 2028 means the national share of readers must rise about nine percentage points a year.
- **The plan funds the people a school head will manage.** By 2028, DepEd and the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) are to create 12,078 Administrative Officer II, 44,285 Project Development Officer I and 40,853 School Counselor Associate I items. These come on top of the 10,000 support positions funded in 2025. [DepEd Order No. 006, s. 2025](https://www.deped.gov.ph/2025/03/20/march-20-2025-do-006-s-2025-guidelines-on-the-streamlining-of-school-forms-and-reports-accomplished-by-teachers/) already cut teachers' forms from 174 to 75.
- **Every school is to have a principal item by 2028.** In June 2025, 23,661 schools (52%) had Principal I to IV items. DepEd is to add 6,000 in 2026, 8,000 in 2027 and 8,124 in 2028, reaching 45,785. A third of principals are to meet school-based management competencies by 2028 through a Principals Academy that does not yet exist. In DepEd's SY 2023-2024 personnel file, 43.4% of public schools report a principal position, and 78.5% of schools with 50 or fewer learners report no school-head position at all.
- **The incentives that produce mass promotion are to be rewritten in 2026.** The Results-based Performance Management System (RPMS) and the OPCRF are to be revised to remove the link between principals' incentives and promotion rates. The plan schedules the phaseout of the transmutation table of [DepEd Order No. 8, s. 2015](https://www.deped.gov.ph/2015/04/01/do-8-s-2015-policy-guidelines-on-classroom-assessment-for-the-k-to-12-basic-education-program/) for 2027-2028, but DepEd moved first: [DepEd Order No. 015, s. 2026](https://www.deped.gov.ph/2026/06/04/june-4-2026-do-015-s-2026-revised-guidelines-on-classroom-assessment-grading-system-and-awards-and-recognition-for-the-k-to-12-basic-education-program/) repeals DO 8 and applies from SY 2026-2027.
- **The Filipino learner is the plan's reason.** The largest youth generation the country may ever have wants to finish school, find decent work, and support family and nation. It meets six structural barriers. The chapter's remedies are a review of the National Career Assessment Examination, school counselors, early-warning systems and ladderized pathways. They correspond to the PPSSH strands on learner voice, career awareness, learner discipline and inclusive practice.

## What the NatPlan is and how to read it

The Commission's mandate in Section 7 of RA 11899 came with four guiding principles: solutions must be strategic ("key drivers of improved learning outcomes"), inclusive ("address learning inequities"), resilient ("sustainable and adaptable to global trends and future challenges") and systemic. The plan adds a fifth criterion of its own, feasibility: interventions "should be realistically achievable, taking into account historical performance, current system capacities, and projected trends". When a target looks modest, that criterion is usually the reason.

The plan sits under AmBisyon Natin 2040, the long-term vision adopted by Executive Order No. 5, s. 2016: "By 2040, the Philippines shall be a prosperous, predominantly middle-class society where no one is poor." The plan explains its own mission for 2035 word by word in what it calls a mapping exercise. An *integrated* system has "seamless vertical and horizontal alignment and coordination" across DepEd, the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) and the Commission on Higher Education (CHED). A *responsive* system "is not static, but instead has mechanisms to evolve based on changing needs". A *data-driven* system "relies on robust education management and information systems to generate timely, accurate, and disaggregated data". A more decentralized and devolved system "fosters subsidiarity in education management and responsiveness to peculiar local conditions and capabilities". And *fundamental skills* "encompass literacy, numeracy, and socio-emotional skills that develop into transferable skills, such as critical thinking and effective communication".

The plan draws those skills as a pyramid. At the base is holistic development in early childhood, including health, socio-emotional learning, Good Manners and Right Conduct (GMRC) and emergent literacy and numeracy. In the middle is functional literacy, which includes numeracy. At the top are critical thinking, which includes problem solving and creativity, communication, and digital skills. The caption is the plan's definition of success: "Citizens that can progress in learning, work, and life."

The plan's logical framework then draws the six Key Priority Areas as a building. Four pillars develop learners with fundamental skills: KPA 1, Supporting Early Childhood Development; KPA 2, Developing the Functional Literacy of Early Learners; KPA 3, Developing Critical Thinking, Digital Skills, and Graduate Readiness for Employment, Education, and TVET; and KPA 4, Promoting Inclusive Learning. TVET is technical and vocational education and training. KPA 5, Improving Equitable Access to Quality Tertiary Education, sits above the pillars as the benefit for learners who have those skills. KPA 6, Enhancing Governance and Resource Allocation, is the base and the condition for everything else. The plan states that the order matters, because "progress at any one stage depends on the performance of the stages before it". Targets are phased for the same reason: early-childhood and functional-literacy investments must come before gains in higher-order skills can be expected.

The plan was built through a foresight process led by the Ateneo Research Institute for the Futures of Education, which identified "Forces of Change" that could constrain reform. It was refined in workshops co-led by DepEd's Education Futures Office, the Teacher Education Council and The Asia Foundation. More than twenty agencies took part, from the DBM and the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) to the Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) Council, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC). Three design choices follow from this process. The milestone years 2028, 2031 and 2035 "align with national political cycles, as well as local government election cycles", so that each administration meets a checkpoint. Targets run across the life course, from early childhood to lifelong learning. And "process-owners are specified for every target to establish the lead and contributing agencies and reinforce accountability".

Each KPA section follows the same five-part format, and knowing it saves time. A **summary table** lists the outcomes and recommendations with baseline, 2028, 2031 and 2035 targets and the lead agency. **Outcome pages** state the system-level result, "what success looks like". They often add equity targets for the regions or groups furthest behind, global and local benchmarks, and EDCOM notes on data problems. **Recommendation pages** list target outputs, the numbered deliverables such as 2.1.1.a or 6.1.2.c, with their own baselines and yearly increments. **Supporting recommendations** that were not prioritized appear at the end with an agency and a timeline, most of them 2026. **Case studies** close each section with local practice the plan wants adapted.

For the NASH, the distinction that matters is between outcome, recommendation and output. An outcome is a learner result, a recommendation is an action, and an output is the countable thing an agency promises to deliver. A school head who confuses them will set a School Improvement Plan target that nobody can measure.

## Six Key Priority Areas and twenty priorities

| Key Priority Area | Sub-areas | Top 20 items | Where a school head meets it |
|---|---|---|---|
| KPA 1. Supporting Early Childhood Development | 1.1 maternal and early childhood nutrition and health; 1.2 universal early learning in every barangay | 1, 2, 3 | Kindergarten readiness, the School-Based Feeding Program, health support for adolescent girls, coordination with barangay Child Development Centers |
| KPA 2. Developing the Functional Literacy of Early Learners | 2.1 functionally literate students | 4 to 8 | Classrooms, textbooks, internet, the end of mass promotion, teachers' administrative load: the core of the job |
| KPA 3. Critical Thinking, Digital Skills and Graduate Readiness | 3.1 critical thinking, creative thinking, communication and readiness for employment | 9, 10, 11 | Teaching assignments by specialization, the SHS TechPro track, career guidance and Job Placement Offices |
| KPA 4. Promoting Inclusive Learning | 4.1 participation and completion in inclusive education | 12, 13 | Learners with disabilities, ALS, Indigenous Peoples, Muslim learners, gifted learners, the Child Find System |
| KPA 5. Equitable Access to Quality Tertiary Education | 5.1 access to tertiary education; 5.2 tertiary educators | 14, 15 | Where senior high school graduates go next, and who guides them |
| KPA 6. Enhancing Governance and Resource Allocation | 6.1 financial and human resource investment; 6.2 coherent and accountable governance | 16 to 20 | Your plantilla item, your MOOE, school-based management, the School Governing Council, the School Improvement Plan, school data |

The twenty priority recommendations, with the plan's own numbering:

1. 1.1.1 Increase investments in early childhood nutrition (First 1,000 Days, Supplementary Feeding Program, School-Based Feeding Program).
2. 1.2.1 Provide scholarships for the training of Child Development Workers and Child Development Teachers.
3. 1.2.2 Expand access to early childhood education through center-based and alternative delivery modes.
4. 2.1.1 Address classroom backlog and congestion in schools, utilizing different modalities (LGU and CSO partnerships, PPPs, voucher program).
5. 2.1.2 Revise procurement guidelines and DepEd policies to ensure complete and timely delivery of textbooks.
6. 2.1.3 Provide equitable internet connectivity and digital resources for schools, teachers, and learners.
7. 2.1.4 End "mass promotion" in schools (fully implement ARAL; revise RPMS, OPCR and GAA targets; rescind the grade transmutation policy).
8. 2.1.5 Reduce administrative burden on teachers.
9. 3.1.1 Address teacher subject-specialization misalignment.
10. 3.1.2 Improve the quality and relevance of the SHS TechPro program.
11. 3.1.3 Institutionalize school-to-employment pathways and strengthen industry-academe coordination.
12. 4.1.2 Invest in teachers and professionals in inclusive education.
13. 4.1.3 Expand programs for learners with disabilities.
14. 5.1.1 Expand access and supports to tertiary education, especially the poorest.
15. 5.1.2 Build relevant and seamless TVET and college pathways.
16. 6.1.1 Invest at least 5% of GDP on education, focusing on the foundations.
17. 6.1.2 Recruit and develop quality school leaders and administrators from basic education to higher education.
18. 6.2.1 Implement phased decentralization and devolution to enable targeted and contextualized services.
19. 6.2.2 Strengthen inter-agency alignment and data integration.
20. 6.2.3 Update the charters of DepEd, CHED, and TESDA and optimize agency capacity.

More than half of the twenty will be implemented inside schools. The rest decide what those schools get.

## KPA 2: the targets your school will carry

KPA 2 has one sub-area, "Ensure students are functionally literate", four outcomes and five recommendations. Its outcomes are the numbers a principal of an elementary or integrated school will be measured against for the next decade.

| Outcome | Baseline | 2028 | 2031 | 2035 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2.1.A CRLA: Key Stage 1 learners reading at grade level, end of school year | 47.74%, or 2,604,392 of 5,455,581 learners assessed, SY 2024-25 | 75% | 90% | 95% |
| 2.1.B Phil-IRI: Grade 10 students grade ready, beginning of school year | Filipino 42.1% (623,862 of 1,481,177); English 18.1% (268,041 of 1,484,204), SY 2025-26 | 57% Filipino, 33% English | 72%, 48% | 87%, 63% |
| 2.1.C RMA: Key Stage 1 learners with at-grade-level numeracy, end of school year | 40.49%, or 2,223,763 of 5,492,078, SY 2024-25 | 65% | 75% | 85% |
| 2.1.D ELLNA: Grade 3 learners at least proficient | 30.52%, or 430,457 of 1,410,408, SY 2023-24 | 50% | 70% | 90% |

The plan breaks the 2028 CRLA target into yearly steps: 57% in 2026, 66% in 2027 and 75% in 2028. Each step is about half a million more learners reading at grade level (505,289, then 491,002, then 491,003). The RMA path is 49%, 57% and 65%, and the ELLNA path is 37%, 44% and 50%. The 95% ceiling for 2035 exists "because the baseline combined typical and atypical learners". If DepEd gathers data on atypical learners, the 2035 target for the rest can be raised to 100% and a separate target set for them. The targets are tied to Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) indicator 4.1.1. The plan also asks DepEd to extend the CRLA and RMA to private schools and the Alternative Learning System (ALS), and to administer them often enough "to enable dynamic grouping of students within the school year".

Equity targets follow each outcome, and a school head in a disadvantaged area should know them. For the CRLA, BARMM starts at 27.97% and is asked for 45% by 2028, 65% by 2031 and 85% by 2035. Region XII is to rise from 39.77% to 50%, 70% and 90%, and MIMAROPA from 41.02% to the same targets. For the RMA, BARMM starts at 27.58%, Region XI at 32.62% and Region IX at 34.24%.

For the ELLNA, the equity rows are groups rather than regions. Schools in geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas (GIDA) start at 24.65%, Last Mile Schools at 29.26%, hardship posts at 22.17%, Indigenous Peoples Education (IPEd) schools at 24.91% and Madrasah Education Program schools at 25.23%. Each is asked to reach 40% to 45% by 2028 and 70% to 75% by 2035. For the Grade 10 Philippine Informal Reading Inventory (Phil-IRI) in English, Region XII (9.7%), Region IX (9.8%) and Region V (10.1%) start below one learner in ten. The plan also lists the disaggregations it wants DepEd to report when it monitors the Academic Recovery and Accessible Learning (ARAL) Program. They are urban and rural, public and private, Last Mile and GIDCA schools, Indigenous Peoples, multigrade schools, ALS learners, Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) beneficiaries and School-Based Feeding Program recipients.

Consider what this means for one school. A school with 60 learners in Grades 1 to 3 at the national baseline has about 29 of them reading at grade level at the end of the year. The 2028 target of 75% is 45 learners. That is 16 more in three years, or five or six a year, every year, while new Grade 1 cohorts arrive each June. A BARMM school starting at the regional baseline has about 17 and is asked for 27 by 2028. This arithmetic is why the plan pairs the targets with ARAL, protected instructional time, teacher training and the removal of administrative tasks. Urging schools to do better will not reach the targets on its own.

DepEd's public CRLA file for SY 2025-2026 shows the starting point school by school in the five regions it covers (CAR, Regions I, III, VIII and IX). Across 647,681 Grade 1 to 3 learners, 15.7% read at grade level and 30.3% are at the lowest level, low emerging. That share is far below the plan's 47.74% baseline, but the two should not be compared directly. The file covers a selected set of schools and does not state when in the year the assessment was given. What the file shows better than any national figure is the problem by grade and language.

![Bar chart of CRLA reading levels in SY 2025-26 by grade and language of assessment: the share at grade level rises from 5 percent in Grade 1 Mother Tongue to 25 percent in Grade 3 Mother Tongue, while the share at the low emerging level falls from 55 percent to 13 percent.](https://nash.com.ph/blog/_astro/crla-by-grade-and-language.p2kH_-yn_25JNE0.webp)

*Figure 1. CRLA reading levels in SY 2025-26 by grade and language of assessment in the assessed public schools of five regions. The at-grade-level share rises from Grade 1 to Grade 3 while the low-emerging share falls. Chart: © 2026 Mark Anthony Llego, NASH Reviewer. [Download the full-resolution chart (PNG)](https://nash.com.ph/blog/charts/deped-data/crla-by-grade-and-language.png).*

| Grade and language     |   Schools |   Test-takers | At grade level (95% CI)   | Low emerging (95% CI)   |
|:-----------------------|----------:|--------------:|:--------------------------|:------------------------|
| Grade 1, Mother Tongue |     6,090 |       199,903 | 5.3 (5.0–5.7)%            | 55.0 (54.2–55.9)%       |
| Grade 2, Mother Tongue |     6,060 |       221,487 | 17.3 (16.7–17.9)%         | 26.7 (26.1–27.4)%       |
| Grade 2, Filipino      |     6,096 |       220,074 | 17.2 (16.6–17.8)%         | 25.5 (24.9–26.1)%       |
| Grade 3, Mother Tongue |     5,920 |       227,945 | 24.6 (23.9–25.4)%         | 16.1 (15.6–16.6)%       |
| Grade 3, Filipino      |     6,056 |       232,270 | 22.7 (22.0–23.4)%         | 15.7 (15.2–16.1)%       |
| Grade 3, English       |     5,918 |       227,704 | 23.3 (22.7–24.0)%         | 13.4 (12.9–13.9)%       |

In Grade 1 mother tongue, 5.3% of learners read at grade level and 55.0% are low emerging. By Grade 3 the at-grade share is 22.7% to 24.6%, depending on the language, and the low-emerging share is 13.4% to 16.1%. Region III has the highest at-grade share (18.4%) and Region VIII the lowest (12.7%). Region IX has the most low-emerging readers (34.2%). The Grade 3 ELLNA file for SY 2023-2024 shows the same pattern one grade later. The test-taker-weighted mean is 63.2 against a proficiency mark of 75. Numeracy is the weakest component in every region, and only 26% of schools reach a Numeracy mean of 75.

| Assessment   | Component          |   Schools | Weighted mean (95% CI)   | Schools with a mean of 75 or more   |
|:-------------|:-------------------|----------:|:-------------------------|:------------------------------------|
| ELLNA        | English            |     5,752 | 64.5 (63.9–65.1)         | 35%                                 |
| ELLNA        | Filipino           |     5,752 | 66.9 (66.4–67.4)         | 39%                                 |
| ELLNA        | Numeracy           |     5,598 | 53.6 (52.7–54.5)         | 26%                                 |
| ELLNA        | Mother Tongue      |     3,827 | 62.2 (61.5–62.9)         | 31%                                 |
| NAT          | Filipino           |     6,636 | 66.0 (65.6–66.4)         | 27%                                 |
| NAT          | Mathematics        |     6,636 | 56.4 (55.7–57.1)         | 21%                                 |
| NAT          | English            |     6,636 | 63.2 (62.6–63.7)         | 28%                                 |
| NAT          | Science            |     6,636 | 53.8 (53.2–54.3)         | 10%                                 |
| NAT          | Araling Panlipunan |     6,636 | 62.1 (61.5–62.7)         | 29%                                 |

Read together, the two tables show why the plan's numeracy target (RMA 40.49% to 65%) is as prominent as its reading target. They also show why "preventive K-3 instruction" has its own line in the plan: the gap is widest in Grade 1 and is still there at the end of Key Stage 1. The [CRLA report for SY 2025-2026](https://nash.com.ph/blog/crla-results-sy-2025-2026) and the [Grade 3 ELLNA report for SY 2023-2024](https://nash.com.ph/blog/ellna-grade-3-results-sy-2023-2024) have the detail by division.

### 2.1.1 Classrooms

Recommendation 2.1.1 sets the classroom targets against a deficit the plan projects at 219,000 rooms by 2028. The deficit is a backlog of 165,443 rooms, 51,222 rooms past 50 years old to be condemned, and 2,335 destroyed by calamities. The targets are 40,000 classrooms by 2028, 65,246 by 2031 and 82,089 by 2035. The 2028 figure is 18.3% of the deficit and the President's commitment for the term ending in 2028.

Four sources are to fund them. The first is the Basic Education Facilities Fund. The second is the Public-Private Partnership for School Infrastructure Program (PSIP): 15,000 rooms under PSIP III by 2028, 40,000 under PSIP IV by 2031 and 50,000 under PSIP V by 2035. The third is the Adopt-a-School Program, from 142 rooms in 2024 to 1,500 by 2028. The fourth is vouchers that use free seats in private elementary schools, which the plan counts at 30 seats per public classroom decongested.

Four other outputs will reach schools directly. Multiple class shifts in schools with elementary offerings are to end by 2028. In 2024, 1,410 such schools ran multiple shifts, of which 1,301 ran double shifts and 31 triple shifts. Of 9,542 planned Last Mile School classrooms, half are to be built by 2028 at 1,590 a year, and all by 2031. Of the 75,654 elementary classrooms needing major repair, 31,523 are to be repaired by 2028, which the plan counts as half of a stock that keeps growing. The share then rises to 80% by 2031 and all by 2035. A major repair costs PHP 50,000 to about PHP 250,000, against an average new classroom cost of PHP 2.5 million. Functional health clinics are to rise from 37% of schools with more than 1,000 learners (1,869 of 5,092) to 80% by 2028. Accreditation as PhilHealth Konsulta providers is proposed to pay for their staffing.

Two of the plan's supporting recommendations change what a school head may do. DepEd is to "review the threshold for minor and major repairs and empower schools to undertake repairs in light of delays with DPWH". It is also to revise the Quick Response Fund (QRF) guidelines so that schools know which fund pays for which damage: the QRF, the DPRP, the Basic Education Facilities Fund (BEFF) or Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) insurance. The plan also asks DepEd to assess population projections to 2040 before building, to design buildings for different hazards instead of one standard, and to partner with hazard-mapping agencies such as the UP Resilience Institute. These are PPSSH strands 2.3 (school facilities and equipment) and 2.5 (school safety for disaster preparedness, mitigation and resiliency) written as a national program.

The public facilities file for SY 2023-2024 is drawn from the same National School Building Inventory (NSBI) the plan uses, and it shows the buildings a new principal inherits. Of public school buildings, 30% are in good condition, 31% need minor repair, 29% need major repair, 7% are for condemnation and 2% are for demolition. There are 35.1 learners per instructional room nationally and 55.1 in NCR. Makeshift rooms are in use at 29.1% of public schools, rising to 42.5% in BARMM and 40.5% in Region XII. The [school facilities report for SY 2023-2024](https://nash.com.ph/blog/deped-classroom-school-building-data-sy-2023-2024) ranks regions and divisions.

### 2.1.2 Textbooks

Output 2.1.2.b targets a complete set of textbooks for every elementary learner by 2028, all 14,748,764 of them. The baseline is about 10,001,702 of 13,335,603 learners with complete sets in SY 2023-2024. DepEd's five-year replacement cycle follows. Output 2.1.2.a is the mother tongue-based multilingual education (MTB-MLE) materials that the plan ties to Republic Act No. 12027: a language mapping in 2026, then mother-tongue learning resources and teacher training for monolingual classes (National Education Plan document, p. 34). The law requires the language mapping and allows, but does not require, MTB-MLE in monolingual classes that meet its conditions (Sec. 2).

The plan's fix for procurement has two stages. DepEd first pre-evaluates and pre-selects acceptable titles before any purchase, and then procures only from that list. Publishers must also upload a digital copy of every textbook. For the school head this is strand 2.3 again. It is the reason the books issued to learners on School Form 3 (Book Issued and Returned) and your records of receipt will be checked against a national 1:1 target.

### 2.1.3 Connectivity and devices

Recommendation 2.1.3 has six outputs with yearly steps. Internet connection for elementary schools is to rise from 79.2% (29,429 of 37,141 schools in 2025) to 86% in 2026, 93% in 2027 and 100% in 2028. Laptops for teachers are to rise from 16.03% (140,429) to 67%, 88% and 100%, which means 454,259 laptops in 2026 alone. Elementary schools with an eLearning Cart Package are to rise from 1.03% (383 of 37,108) to 3.97% by 2028, 76% by 2031 and 100% by 2035. Smart TVs, five per school package, are to rise from 34% of schools (15,404 of 45,794) to 72% by 2028 and 100% by 2031. School electrification is to rise from 93% (44,614 of 47,972) to 100%, with electrical upgrading for the 6,435 schools (13.6%) whose wiring cannot carry the load. DepEd and the DICT share the work.

The public files give the starting point. In SY 2023-2024, 76.2% of public elementary schools reported an internet connection, covering 87.7% of elementary learners. Of all public schools, 97.4% had electricity and 97.6% had water. Only 75.4% had at least one academic computer, so one school in four had none. There were 6.6 academic computers per 100 learners nationally and 3.1 in BARMM, where 49.9% of schools had no academic computer. The 2026 to 2028 steps will have to reach three regions first: Region IX (38.3% of schools without a computer, 72.6% of elementary learners with internet), and MIMAROPA and Region V (about 73.6% of elementary learners with internet).

![Three horizontal bar charts of the share of public elementary learners whose school reports water supply, electricity and internet, by region, SY 2023-24. Water and electricity are 94 to 100 percent everywhere; internet ranges from 73 percent in Region IX to 98 percent in Region III.](https://nash.com.ph/blog/_astro/water-electricity-internet-by-region.Ch1jgMb5_Z6C2UP.webp)

*Figure 2. Share of public elementary learners whose school reports a water supply, electricity and an internet connection, by region, SY 2023-24. Chart: © 2026 Mark Anthony Llego, NASH Reviewer. [Download the full-resolution chart (PNG)](https://nash.com.ph/blog/charts/deped-data/water-electricity-internet-by-region.png).*

| Indicator                          |   Schools with data | Share of schools   | Share of learners   |
|:-----------------------------------|--------------------:|:-------------------|:--------------------|
| water supply (ES)                  |              39,341 | 97.6%              | 98.1%               |
| electricity, grid or off-grid (ES) |              39,343 | 97.4%              | 98.2%               |
| internet (ES)                      |              39,341 | 76.2%              | 87.7%               |
| water supply (any level)           |              47,813 | 97.6%              | 98.3%               |
| electricity (any level)            |              47,813 | 97.4%              | 98.3%               |
| internet (any level)               |              47,813 | 78.1%              | 90.4%               |
| at least one academic computer     |              47,813 | 75.4%              | 86.9%               |
| no functional toilet bowl          |              47,814 | 2.8%               | 1.1%                |

For the school head, the connectivity outputs are strands 2.1 (records management using information and communications technology, or ICT), 2.3 and 1.4. A laptop for every teacher and a connected school are what make the learner information system, the e-SF7 and the school dashboard the plan promises in KPA 6 usable. The [ICT report for SY 2023-2024](https://nash.com.ph/blog/deped-ict-data-sy-2023-2024) and the [WASH and utilities report for SY 2023-2024](https://nash.com.ph/blog/deped-wash-data-sy-2023-2024) have the regional and division tables.

### 2.1.4 Ending mass promotion

This is the recommendation that will change a principal's performance contract. Output 2.1.4.a is the full implementation of the ARAL Program under Republic Act No. 12028, from its initial reading implementation in SY 2025-2026 to "continuous refinement" in reading, mathematics and science.

Output 2.1.4.b is due in 2026 and has four parts. The first is to "review and revise all the policies and plans that unintendedly encourage mass promotion", including the General Appropriations Act (GAA) targets set with DepDev. The second is to establish "clear mechanisms for determination of context-specific targets at the Central, Regional, Division, and School-levels". The third is to "revise the RPMS, ensuring the clear articulation of the removal of the link between school principals' incentives and student promotion". The fourth is to "articulate safeguards in the RPMS to protect teacher autonomy". The revised RPMS and OPCRF are to be implemented from 2027 to 2035.

Output 2.1.4.c phases out the transmutation policy of DepEd Order No. 8, s. 2015, in 2027-2028. Under that policy, an initial grade between 60.00 and 61.59 became a transmuted 75, and anything from 0 to 3.99 became 60, the lowest grade a report card showed. DepEd has since moved ahead of the plan. [DepEd Order No. 015, s. 2026](https://nash.com.ph/blog/deped-classroom-assessment-do-015-s-2026) repeals DO 8, s. 2015. In SY 2026-2027 an adjusted table applies, under which an initial grade of 70.00 is needed for a transmuted 75 and 60 remains the minimum reportable grade. From SY 2027-2028, Key Stages 2 to 4 report grades without transmutation, with 75 as the minimum passing grade. Output 2.1.4.d trains 100% of teachers in functional literacy and learner remediation, including structured pedagogy, with a baseline to be set during ARAL's first year. Output 2.1.4.e implements vision screening for every kindergarten learner under Republic Act No. 11358, with three years of catch-up for older learners.

The plan's note on balance matters for how you will spend your time. "While remediation is important to catch struggling learners, preventive K-3 instruction and interventions (protected daily time, teacher coaching, early identification, and family engagement) is just as important", and the two should have "distinct line items". Separate line items keep prevention funds from being spent on remediation. The plan also brings higher education in. CHED recommends mobilizing state universities and teacher education institutions "as regional partners for ARAL monitoring and tutoring support", with joint CHED-DepEd evaluation of ARAL's impact.

The Final Report's finding behind this recommendation is that de facto mass promotion persists "even though no DepEd policy formally mandates automatic promotion". It gives two reasons: promotion, completion and dropout rates are headline metrics in the Individual Performance Commitment and Review Form (IPCRF) and the OPCRF, and failing a learner triggers documentation and home visits. Teachers told the Commission that "some [principals] explicitly discourage or prohibit failing learners even when non mastery is evident". A Career Stage 1 school head is expected to "set achievable and challenging learning outcomes to support learner achievement and the attainment of other performance indicators" (indicator 3.4.1). The same school head must know "learning assessment tools, strategies and utilization of results consistent with curriculum requirements" (indicator 3.5.1). After 2026, the plan intends those indicators to be read against a performance system that no longer rewards a 100% promotion rate.

### 2.1.5 Reducing teachers' administrative burden

Recommendation 2.1.5 is the staffing plan behind [DepEd Order No. 002, s. 2024](https://www.deped.gov.ph/2024/01/26/january-26-2024-do-002-s-2024-immediate-removal-of-administrative-tasks-of-public-school-teachers/), which moved administrative tasks from teachers to school heads and non-teaching staff; the [guide to DO 002 and school support staff](https://nash.com.ph/blog/deped-do-002-administrative-tasks-support-staff) explains who does what. Output 2.1.5.a creates the positions the updated School Organizational Structure and Staffing Standards (SOSSS) require, and output 2.1.5.b fills the ones that exist:

| Position | Existing items | Required items | New items by 2028 | Fill rate of existing items |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Administrative Officer II (SG 11) | 34,519 | 46,597 | +12,078 (11,268 in 2026) | 73%, 25,137 filled |
| Administrative Officer IV (SG 15) | 325 | 4,978 | +4,653 (all in 2026) | 26%, 1,279 filled |
| Project Development Officer I (SG 11) | 1,500 | 45,785 | +44,285 (5,000 in 2026, 20,000 in 2027, 19,285 in 2028) | 96% of 1,893 |
| School Counselor Associate I (SG 11) | 0, with 5,844 created in 2025 by scrap and build | 51,572 | +40,853 by 2028, +10,719 by 2031 | 0% |
| School Counselor (SG 16) | 603 guidance counselors and psychologists to be reclassified | 22,542 | +1,500 by 2028, +1,500 by 2031, +2,000 by 2035 | 60% of 1,000 targeted for 2026 |

The evidence the plan cites is IDInsight's finding that 42% of teachers work more than 50 hours a week, 17.8 of those hours on ancillary duties and 8.1 on program tasks. Most of that time goes to forms and reports. DepEd Order No. 006, s. 2025 cut the 174 forms teachers were accomplishing by 57%. Only 5 forms are regularly required; 31 more are for ancillary tasks and 39 for teaching-related assignments, which depend on a teacher's rationalized workload and designation. [DepEd Order No. 005, s. 2024](https://www.deped.gov.ph/2024/04/29/april-29-2024-do-005-s-2024-rationalization-of-teachers-workload-in-public-schools-and-payment-of-teaching-overload/) set official working hours and pay for teaching overload. The plan wants the rest digitized: attendance, records and reporting systems, and an integrated communications platform "to prevent redundancies in reports and miscommunication".

Read this table as your future organizational chart. In most schools you will supervise an Administrative Officer II. If the 2027 and 2028 items arrive, you will also supervise a Project Development Officer I and a School Counselor Associate I, positions that did not exist in the school you taught in. Moving the remaining administrative work to these staff, deciding which teaching-related assignments from the DepEd Order No. 005, s. 2024 list stay with teachers, and documenting why, is strand 2.4 (management of staff) and strand 4.7 (general welfare of human resources) in daily practice. The [SY 2023-2024 personnel report](https://nash.com.ph/blog/deped-teachers-school-personnel-data-sy-2023-2024) shows the teaching force these positions will support: 909,348 teachers in public schools, 25.5 learners per teacher, and 7.6% of nationally funded teachers at master-teacher rank.

[Teacher Workload and Accountability](https://nash.com.ph/blog/teacher-workload-accountability-edcom-ii) covers the evidence on teachers' hours and administrative work, and what has changed since 2024.

### Beyond functional literacy

The Final Report's KPA 2 chapter adds a section the standalone plan does not: "Functional literacy is essential, yet insufficient on its own." It names socio-emotional learning as "a particularly vital dimension". It lists UNICEF's five macroskills that anchor socio-emotional learning in Edukasyon sa Pagpapakatao: pag-unawa, pagninilay, pagsangguni, pagpapasya and pagkilos, or understanding, reflection, seeking advice, deciding and acting. It argues that Values Education "often remains anchored on external behavioral expectations rather than deeper competencies".

The section also cites the Delors pillars (learning to know, to do, to be and to live together) and the Filipino concepts of kapwa and pakikipagkapwa. It warns that schooling which rewards only verbal-linguistic and logical-mathematical intelligence "often becomes a divider" rather than an equalizer. For a school head these are strands 3.6 (learning environment) and 5.3 (inclusive practice). They are the reason the plan's literacy targets are not meant to be met by drilling alone.

### Legislation and local practice

The plan's priority legislative measures for KPA 2 are three. The first is an amendment to Republic Act No. 10533 to remove the mandatory spiral progression from the curriculum. Congress has since passed it: [Republic Act No. 12322](https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/2026/08/02/republic-act-no-12322/), which lapsed into law on August 2, 2026, amended Section 5(g) of RA 10533 so that the spiral progression approach is no longer required and the curriculum is reviewed at least every five years. The second is a Last Mile School Act to establish schools in geographically isolated, disadvantaged and conflict-affected areas. The third is a Classroom-Building Acceleration Program Bill that would let local governments and non-government organizations (NGOs) build classrooms to national standards with national funds. The supporting recommendations ask DepEd to rationalize the definition of Last Mile Schools and to design "tailor-fitted learning delivery programs, supports, and formulas (school funding, staffing, etc)" for them.

The case studies are the plan's models of what a school and its local government can do together. In Norzagaray, Bulacan, Project BRIGHT (BRIdging Gaps through Helpful Tools) began in 2023. The plan reports that 60.73% of learners in Norzagaray read at grade level on the CRLA, against the national 47.74%, but its chart labels that figure "Bulacan SDO", the Bulacan schools division (National Education Plan document, pp. 42-43). The Bulacan division posted an average progress score of 23.72% against a national 20%, and North Hills Village Elementary School a progress score of 61.6%. Teachers used phonics games, lunch-break story reading, one-on-one tutorials and songs. The municipal government paid a PHP 7,000 incentive for summer reading camps and supplied literacy materials every quarter. DepEd Assistant Secretary Jerome Buenviaje noted that the model provides a concrete framework for the nationwide ARAL Program. Valenzuela City's Education 360° Investment Program, a Galing Pook awardee in 2015, is the plan's example of multi-year classroom planning by a city. Both are PPSSH strand 5.5 (community engagement) and strand 1.5 (program design and implementation) with results attached.

[Local Education Models in EDCOM II](https://nash.com.ph/blog/local-education-reform-models-edcom-ii) covers these case studies and the other local models in the reports, with the evidence behind each.

## KPA 1: the learners who arrive in kindergarten

KPA 1 mostly concerns children before they enter school, but its outcomes decide who arrives in kindergarten. Outcome 1.1.A reduces stunting among children under five from 23.6% in 2023 to 17.9% by 2028, 13.5% by 2031 and below 10% by 2035. BARMM starts at 34.3%, Region XII at 33% and Region IX at 31.9%, and among the poorest households stunting is 41%. Outcome 1.2.A raises the participation rate of three- and four-year-olds in early learning from 34% (about 1.1 million children) to 50% by 2028, 75% by 2031 and 90% by 2035. Its equity rows are Region IV-A at 17.4%, Region III at 17.26% and BARMM at 20.65%, so the gap is not confined to the poorest regions. The ECCD Council's own monitoring covered only 47% of local government unit (LGU) reports in August 2025. This is one of several places where the plan says the data are not good enough to manage by.

Three recommendations affect a school directly. Recommendation 1.1.1 includes the School-Based Feeding Program among the three nutrition investments, and a supporting recommendation asks DepEd to cover nutritionally at-risk pregnant adolescent learners through it from 2026. Recommendation 1.1.2 asks DepEd to "enhance the health and nutritional support for female adolescent learners". Recommendation 1.2.3 strengthens LGUs to implement Republic Act No. 12199, the ECCD Systems Act of 2025, which makes early learning an LGU-led service. A school head in an elementary school will meet KPA 1 in three places: the kindergarten teacher's readiness assessments, the feeding program's beneficiary list, and the barangay Child Development Center whose graduates arrive each June. These are strand 5.5 again, and strand 3.6.

## KPA 3: critical thinking and readiness for work

KPA 3 is the senior high school's KPA, and its baseline is the starkest in the plan. Outcome 3.1.A asks the share of Grade 12 learners at least proficient on the overall National Achievement Test (NAT) to rise from 0.4% (6,518 of 1,611,809 assessed in 2024) to 30% by 2028, 60% by 2031 and 90% by 2035. Outcome 3.1.B does the same for the Language and Communication component, from 0.03%, or 438 learners. Outcome 3.1.C tracks employment six months after graduation for those who seek work. The targets are at least 20% for senior high school graduates, at least 60% for higher education graduates, and 83% to 85% for TVET graduates from a 2020 baseline of 70%. About 20% of senior high school graduates enter the labor force, while more than 70% continue to study.

Recommendation 3.1.1 is about who teaches what. Output 3.1.1.a raises the occupancy of authorized teaching positions from 96.5% (about 892,678 filled of 925,087, with 32,409 unfilled in 2025) to 100%. Output 3.1.1.b reduces subject-specialization mismatch to zero by 2028. At the baseline, 74.69% of teachers, about 666,741, teach outside their specialization at least part of the time. Within that total, 42.86% of teachers are fully mismatched and 31.84% teach a mix of aligned and misaligned subjects. The figures come from a 2025 study by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS). The plan asks DepEd to build a teacher assessment of content mastery and pedagogy as the basis for subject assignment, to align hiring and deployment with it, and to make sure teacher education institutions offer the specializations regions need.

Recommendation 3.1.2 improves the senior high school (SHS) TechPro track, with TESDA quality assurance. Recommendation 3.1.3 puts Job Placement Offices in all public senior high schools, state universities and colleges (SUCs) and local universities and colleges (LUCs), with industry-academe coordination, area-based labor-market reviews and graduate tracer studies. The plan also asks DepEd to "assess and address learner challenges prior to their transition to Secondary", because the Grade 12 result depends on what learners know by Grade 6.

For a Career Stage 2 school head, the mismatch output is indicator 2.4.2 verbatim: "manage staffing such as teaching load distribution and grade level and subject area assignment in adherence to laws, policies, guidelines and issuances based on the needs of the school." For Career Stage 1 it is strand 3.7 (career awareness and opportunities). The public data show the Grade 6 starting point. In the SY 2023-2024 NAT file, Science (53.8) and Mathematics (56.4) are the weakest subjects, and only 10% of schools reach a Science mean of 75. The enrollment file shows the senior high school the plan wants to redirect. In SY 2025-2026, 1,034,429 learners are in the Technical-Vocational-Livelihood (TVL) track, 1,007,555 in Humanities and Social Sciences (HUMSS), 702,410 in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), 423,479 in the General Academic Strand (GAS), 365,597 in Accountancy, Business and Management (ABM) and 268,830 in the new Strengthened Senior High School curriculum. The [NAT Grade 6 report for SY 2023-2024](https://nash.com.ph/blog/nat-grade-6-results-sy-2023-2024) and the [enrollment trends report](https://nash.com.ph/blog/deped-enrollment-trends-2017-2026) have the trends.

[Senior High School and Jobs](https://nash.com.ph/blog/senior-high-school-jobs-edcom-ii) covers the TechPro track, Job Placement Offices and what EDCOM II found about where senior high school graduates go.

## KPA 4: inclusive learning

KPA 4's outcome 4.1.A is a set of enrollment rates for groups the system has not reached, and 4.1.B is their completion rates. Children with disabilities: 7.8% enrolled, or 391,098 of an estimated 5 million, to rise to 34% by 2028, 59% by 2031 and 85% by 2035. Of those enrolled, 148,869 have a formal diagnosis and 242,220 have manifestations (National Education Plan document, p. 56), and 75% are in mainstream classes (p. 58). ALS learners: 12.6% of 4.9 million out-of-school youth (617,712) to rise to 30%, 50% and 70%, with completion from 5.4% (266,113) to 25%, 50% and 70%. Indigenous Peoples learners: 60.4% (1,621,640 of 2,684,063 school-age Indigenous Peoples (IP) children) to rise to 70% by 2028 and 90% by 2035 on the outcome page; the summary table prints 75% and 95%. Muslim learners in the Arabic Language and Islamic Values Education (ALIVE) program: 20.5% (343,672 of 1,676,470 school-age Muslim children) to rise to 46%, 72% and 100%. The "best and brightest" in science programs: 1.03% of all basic education learners to rise to 3% by 2035, with an assessment to identify talent as early as Grades 3 to 5.

The recommendations set the infrastructure and the people. Recommendation 4.1.1 has four parts. It raises the share of municipalities and cities with a Special Education (SPED) Center from 28% (471 of 1,642) to 52% by 2028 and 100% by 2035, with every fourth- and fifth-class municipality covered by 2028. It makes 26% of divisions host a fully operational Inclusive Learning Resource Center (ILRC) by 2028; 32 of 226 divisions have one today, and none is fully operational. It upgrades half of the 13,713 temporary Type 1 ALS Community Learning Centers (CLCs) to permanent Type 3 or better by 2028. And it puts a Type 5 CLC in each of the 83 divisions that lack one.

Recommendation 4.1.2 fills 100% of Special Needs Education (SNEd) teacher positions; 88.54% are filled, with about 787 vacant of 6,869 in June 2025. It also opens Special Needs Education degree programs in BARMM, funds 1,000 SNEd scholars by 2028, trains receiving teachers, fills multidisciplinary-team positions for the ILRCs, and certifies Learning Support Aides in Caregiving NC II. Recommendation 4.1.3 expands program offerings. The Child Find System required by Republic Act No. 11650, the Inclusive Education Act, is the mechanism that will make most of these learners visible to a school for the first time.

![Four horizontal bar panels by region, public schools SY 2023-24: Indigenous Peoples learners from 72 percent of learners in CAR and 33 percent in BARMM to under 1 percent in NCR, Region IV-A and Region VIII; Balik-Aral learners 0.3 to 1.5 percent; ALIVE learners 18 percent in BARMM, 5 to 6 percent in Regions IX and XII and near zero elsewhere; alternative delivery modes 0.0 to 0.2 percent.](https://nash.com.ph/blog/_astro/learner-types-by-region.Caa-dd7R_cG4SP.webp)

*Figure 3. Indigenous Peoples learners, Balik-Aral returnees, ALIVE learners and learners in alternative delivery modes as shares of public school enrollment, by region, SY 2023-24. Chart: © 2026 Mark Anthony Llego, NASH Reviewer. [Download the full-resolution chart (PNG)](https://nash.com.ph/blog/charts/deped-data/learner-types-by-region.png).*

| Region               |   Public schools |   Learners | Indigenous Peoples   | Balik-Aral   | ALIVE   | Alternative delivery modes   | ES learners in multigrade classes   | Schools offering multigrade   |
|:---------------------|-----------------:|-----------:|:---------------------|:-------------|:--------|:-----------------------------|:------------------------------------|:------------------------------|
| BARMM                |            2,155 |    769,022 | 33.1%                | 1.55%        | 18.2%   | 0.15%                        | 3.4%                                | 11.2%                         |
| CAR                  |            1,844 |    358,204 | 71.9%                | 0.37%        | 0.1%    | 0.23%                        | 9.9%                                | 39.7%                         |
| CARAGA               |            2,099 |    700,496 | 13.7%                | 0.53%        | 0.2%    | 0.05%                        | 3.9%                                | 20.8%                         |
| MIMAROPA             |            2,382 |    817,395 | 20.2%                | 0.70%        | 0.7%    | 0.22%                        | 4.0%                                | 19.7%                         |
| NCR                  |              827 |  2,101,985 | 0.6%                 | 0.66%        | 0.2%    | 0.13%                        | 0.0%                                | 0.6%                          |
| NIR                  |            2,231 |  1,134,333 | 2.3%                 | 0.64%        | 0.0%    | 0.09%                        | 0.9%                                | 7.3%                          |
| Region I             |            2,861 |  1,101,162 | 5.0%                 | 0.28%        | 0.1%    | 0.06%                        | 1.8%                                | 12.0%                         |
| Region II            |            2,539 |    809,342 | 26.7%                | 0.36%        | 0.0%    | 0.03%                        | 3.8%                                | 18.9%                         |
| Region III           |            3,729 |  2,478,610 | 1.7%                 | 0.54%        | 0.1%    | 0.19%                        | 0.2%                                | 2.6%                          |
| Region IV-A          |            3,564 |  3,188,202 | 0.7%                 | 0.64%        | 0.1%    | 0.07%                        | 0.3%                                | 4.8%                          |
| Region IX            |            2,993 |  1,106,260 | 22.4%                | 0.96%        | 5.6%    | 0.11%                        | 3.3%                                | 16.8%                         |
| Region V             |            3,862 |  1,581,329 | 1.7%                 | 0.49%        | 0.0%    | 0.11%                        | 1.6%                                | 10.7%                         |
| Region VI            |            2,835 |  1,040,714 | 5.5%                 | 0.33%        | 0.1%    | 0.05%                        | 1.9%                                | 12.8%                         |
| Region VII           |            2,810 |  1,456,462 | 0.8%                 | 0.54%        | 0.2%    | 0.04%                        | 1.1%                                | 11.3%                         |
| Region VIII          |            4,179 |  1,141,816 | 0.5%                 | 0.58%        | 0.0%    | 0.10%                        | 8.5%                                | 33.1%                         |
| Region X             |            2,531 |  1,159,212 | 13.8%                | 0.73%        | 3.4%    | 0.19%                        | 3.0%                                | 18.9%                         |
| Region XI            |            2,218 |  1,218,778 | 24.7%                | 0.64%        | 0.8%    | 0.05%                        | 1.6%                                | 12.7%                         |
| Region XII           |            2,155 |  1,062,105 | 19.3%                | 0.73%        | 5.3%    | 0.13%                        | 1.8%                                | 11.9%                         |
| Philippines (public) |           47,814 | 23,225,427 | 9.3%                 | 0.62%        | 1.4%    | 0.11%                        | 2.0%                                | 15.2%                         |

The public learner file shows how differently KPA 4 will apply in different schools. Indigenous Peoples learners are 9.3% of public enrollment nationally but 71.9% in CAR and 33.1% in BARMM. They are 26.7% in Region II, 24.7% in Region XI and 22.4% in Region IX. ALIVE learners are 1.4% nationally, 18.2% in BARMM, 5.6% in Region IX and 5.3% in Region XII. Two percent of public elementary learners are taught in multigrade classes nationally, 9.9% in CAR and 8.5% in Region VIII. Multigrade classes are offered by 15.2% of public schools, and by 39.7% in CAR. A principal in Kalinga and a principal in Pasig will both be assessed on indicator 5.3.1, "demonstrate knowledge and understanding of inclusive practices, such as gender sensitivity, physical and mental health awareness and culture responsiveness", but the practices will not be the same. The [learner data report for SY 2023-2024](https://nash.com.ph/blog/deped-learner-data-sy-2023-2024) has the division tables.

[RA 11650 and Learners With Disabilities](https://nash.com.ph/blog/learners-with-disabilities-ra-11650-edcom-ii) covers the plan's targets for learners with disabilities and the EDCOM II findings behind them.

## KPA 5: where your graduates go

KPA 5 belongs to CHED and TESDA, but a senior high school head will be judged in part by it. TVET participation is to grow from 1,613,772 in 2024 to 2,877,987 by 2035, at a 90% completion rate. Higher education participation (54%) and completion (70%) are to be maintained while access for the poorest improves through the Tertiary Education Subsidy and the SIKAP program. The share of higher education faculty with a graduate degree is to rise from 58.2% to 88.1%. Recommendation 5.1.2, "build relevant and seamless TVET and college pathways", connects to the plan's work on the Philippine Qualifications Framework, credit transfer and the recognition of prior learning in KPA 6. It also connects to the Filipino Learner chapter's call to treat TVET "not as a fallback but as a valid and respected route to decent work". For the school head this is strand 3.7 again, and the career guidance that the National Career Assessment Examination, discussed below, is supposed to support.

## KPA 6: governance, money and your own position

KPA 6 is the base of the plan's logical framework, and it is where the plan discusses your own position.

### Investment

Outcome 6.1.A raises education spending from 3.9% of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2025 to 4.5% by 2028, 5% by 2031 and 5.5% by 2035. The Incheon Declaration range is 4% to 6%, and ASEAN peers spend between 1.3% (Indonesia) and 3.6% (Malaysia). The outputs under Recommendation 6.1.1 raise education's share of national expenditure from 16.5% to 21%, 24.5% and 29%, and TVET's share of GDP from 0.07% to 0.3%. They raise per-learner spending in basic education from PHP 47,286 to PHP 50,000 by 2028, PHP 60,000 by 2031 and PHP 78,000 by 2035, the last benchmarked on Indonesia.

Supporting recommendations due in 2026 include three items (National Education Plan document, p. 103). The first is an annual equity analysis of Special Education Fund (SEF) and LGU education spending. The second is a unified per-child funding floor for ages 0 to 8, weighted for GIDA, BARMM, IP and poorest-quintile learners. The third is a refined School Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses (MOOE) formula "to integrate equity-based measures and allocations, taking into account LGU income class, priority status (e.g., schools with SPED learners), and schools offering SCPs".

### School leaders

Recommendation 6.1.2, "recruit and develop quality school leaders and administrators from basic education to higher education", has five outputs. Three carry numbers.

| Output | Baseline | 2028 | 2031 | 2035 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6.1.2.a Schools with School Principal plantilla positions | 52%, or 23,661 schools with Principal I to IV items, June 2025 | 100%: 6,000 items in 2026, 8,000 in 2027, 8,124 in 2028 | 100% | 100% |
| 6.1.2.b Occupancy rate of School Principal positions | 94.35%, or 22,320 of 23,661 filled | 100% | 100% | 100% |
| 6.1.2.c Principals meeting school-based management competencies | 0%, pending the Principals Academy; universe 22,320 school heads | 33%, about 15,110 cumulative, adding about 5,036 a year | 35% | 100% |

The table's footnotes carry the policy. The 100% target rests on "the new School Organizational Structure and Staffing Standards (SOSSS) allocation of one (1) School Principal per unique DepEd-managed school". The count of schools includes 467 in the Sulu division. Items after 2028 depend on how many new schools are established. The yearly 5,036 is 11% of the 45,785 principal positions to be filled by 2028.

Output 6.1.2.d asks the National Educators Academy of the Philippines (NEAP) to expand competency-based training for superintendents, district supervisors and regional directors, and to grow Professional Learning Communities "under its developing Principal Academy". The supporting recommendations for 2026 are three. The first is to "strengthen NEAP, establish the Principal Academy, and create Professional Learning Communities for school leaders". The second is to amend Civil Service Commission (CSC) and DepEd policies so that graduate programs are "explicitly linked to professional pathways (e.g. Education Leadership for principals; teaching specializations for Master Teachers)". The third is to "provide targeted training for Division Superintendents and Supervisors, and institutionalize succession planning in schools". The plan costs Recommendation 6.1.2 at PHP 12.07 billion a year from 2026 to 2028, or PHP 36.2 billion for that period, then PHP 39.4 billion for 2029 to 2031 and PHP 47.6 billion for 2032 to 2035.

The Final Report's teacher-education chapter explains why. Based on SY 2024-2025 data, 18,576 schools (48%) "have no principal items" and rely on teachers-in-charge. Its recommendation 7 asks that "the over 21,800 schools without a principal have dedicated school heads". It asks that deployment "integrate school size, enrollment trends, and geographical context to avoid overreliance on teacher-in-charge arrangements". And it says that "leadership pipelines should be strengthened through targeted training, mentoring, and succession planning linked to the Career Progression System for School Leaders". Recommendation 8 is an Instructional Leadership Framework that sets out the authorities of superintendents, supervisors and principals. Recommendation 9 revises the OPCRF "to prioritize instructional leadership functions, such as classroom observation, teacher coaching, and curriculum implementation, over administrative and compliance tasks". Recommendation 10 replaces the 1997 staffing guidelines with the SOSSS, with differentiated allocations for SPED Centers, ILRCs, Last Mile Schools and IP Education schools.

The SY 2023-2024 personnel file shows who leads public schools one year before the plan's baseline. Figure 4 and the tables below classify each of the 47,813 public schools by the highest school-leadership position it reports.

![Stacked horizontal bars of public schools by the highest school-leadership position they report, for seven school-size bands from 1 to 50 learners to over 2,000, SY 2023-24. The share with a School Principal rises with school size and the share with no head position falls.](https://nash.com.ph/blog/_astro/school-heads-by-school-size.ChzC6RWB_Z22p7K0.webp)

*Figure 4. Who leads public schools, by school size, SY 2023-24: the highest school-leadership position each school reports in the personnel file. Chart: © 2026 Mark Anthony Llego, NASH Reviewer. [Download the full-resolution chart (PNG)](https://nash.com.ph/blog/charts/deped-data/school-heads-by-school-size.png).*

| Learners per school   | School Principal   | Assistant principal only   | Head teacher only   | No head position   |   Schools |   Learners |
|:----------------------|:-------------------|:---------------------------|:--------------------|:-------------------|----------:|-----------:|
| 1–50                  | 5.6%               | 0.0%                       | 15.9%               | 78.5%              |     2,628 |     87,517 |
| 51–100                | 9.0%               | 0.1%                       | 32.1%               | 58.8%              |     5,902 |    452,684 |
| 101–200               | 22.3%              | 0.2%                       | 43.5%               | 34.1%              |    12,528 |  1,848,183 |
| 201–500               | 49.4%              | 0.4%                       | 30.6%               | 19.5%              |    15,288 |  4,849,403 |
| 501–1,000             | 79.0%              | 1.0%                       | 10.6%               | 9.4%               |     6,185 |  4,278,461 |
| 1,001–2,000           | 90.2%              | 0.8%                       | 3.9%                | 5.1%               |     3,248 |  4,494,332 |
| over 2,000            | 93.6%              | 1.2%                       | 1.9%                | 3.3%               |     2,034 |  7,214,545 |
| Philippines (public)  | 43.4%              | 0.4%                       | 27.7%               | 28.5%              |    47,813 | 23,225,125 |

Nationally, 43.4% of public schools report a School Principal position, 27.7% a head teacher only, and 28.5% no school-leadership position, which means a teacher-in-charge. The difference by school size is large. Among schools with 50 or fewer learners, 78.5% have no head position and 5.6% have a principal. Among schools with 101 to 200 learners, 34.1% have none and 22.3% have a principal. Among schools with more than 2,000 learners, 93.6% have a principal. Forty-four percent of public schools have 200 learners or fewer, and together they hold 10.3% of learners. By level, 39.5% of elementary-only schools report a principal and 30.1% report no head position, against 57.4% and 24.4% for secondary-only schools.

| Level offered            | School Principal   | Assistant principal only   | Head teacher only   | No head position   |   Schools |   Learners |
|:-------------------------|:-------------------|:---------------------------|:--------------------|:-------------------|----------:|-----------:|
| Elementary and secondary | 54.3%              | 0.4%                       | 28.4%               | 17.0%              |     2,335 |  1,401,614 |
| Elementary only          | 39.5%              | 0.0%                       | 30.4%               | 30.1%              |    37,005 | 13,158,482 |
| Secondary only           | 57.4%              | 2.3%                       | 15.9%               | 24.4%              |     8,473 |  8,665,029 |
| Philippines (public)     | 43.4%              | 0.4%                       | 27.7%               | 28.5%              |    47,813 | 23,225,125 |

Put the plan and the file together, and the next three years are clear. The 22,124 new items will go to schools that have never had a principal. Those schools are small, elementary and often rural, and a Head Teacher I or a teacher-in-charge leads them today. The people who will fill the items come through the NASH. In FY 2025, DepEd's two batches had 11,308 and 23,848 takers complete the assessment. Of these, 2,899 and 6,180 met the PPSSH standards in four domains and 1,509 and 2,591 in three, together 13,179 prospective candidates for entry-level School Principal positions. In the two batches, 61% and 63% were rated With Developmental Areas. The [NASH results page](https://nash.com.ph/nash-results) follows the memoranda, and the [principal shortage guide](https://nash.com.ph/principal-shortage) charts the supply of candidates. Your first principalship is therefore likely to be a 150-learner elementary school whose previous head was a Head Teacher. Output 6.1.2.c says you will be expected to show school-based management competencies within a few years of arriving.

### Decentralization and school-based management

Outcome 6.2.A is qualitative, and it is written in the vocabulary of the PPSSH. The baseline lists DepEd's current initiatives: a Decentralization Readiness Index for regional offices, Delivery Units piloted in five regions, a PHP 10 million fund per region for region-specific programs, deconcentration of selected programs from the Central Office, and the normative MOOE formula. The five pilot regions (Regions I, III, VIII and IX and CAR) are the same five whose assessment files DepEd has published. By 2028 the plan wants guideposts to sustain decentralization: pilots tested across several school years and ready to scale, partnership arrangements with LGUs defined, and a readiness index extended to divisions, schools and LGUs. By 2035 it wants this: "School communities and local stakeholders have the capacity, authority, and resources to design and implement programs that improve learning outcomes. DepEd Field Offices focus support and resources towards Last-Mile Schools. Schools have functional SGCs, funded SIPs, and practice SBM. Local Government Units fully utilize SEF aligned with SIPs."

Recommendation 6.2.1's school-level outputs are four. They are a decentralization readiness index for schools, more school-level resources through the refined MOOE formula, a strategic expansion of Implementing Units "prioritizing schools with large enrollment size and demonstrated economies of scale", and more Schools Division Offices in large jurisdictions. The Final Report's Priority Area 27 explains the starting point. Only 5.9% of public schools (2,661 of 45,225) are implementing units with direct access to their funds. The average division has 98 staff for 33 schools, and Leyte's division oversees 1,363 schools while Isabela City's oversees 74 under the same staffing framework. There are 45 divisions with no engineer. Schools that do not reach the implementing-unit threshold "may be clustered under a lead school to achieve economies of scale while still benefiting from more direct fund access".

The supporting recommendations due in 2026 (National Education Plan document, p. 104) match the content of PPSSH Domains 1, 2 and 5. DepEd is to "review and amend policies and processes that inhibit School-Based Management". It is to "improve guidelines, implementation, and monitoring of School Governance Councils (SGC) to ensure adequate representation and participation". It is to "strengthen guidelines, implementation, and monitoring of School Improvement Plans (SIPs) to ensure their integration into national and local budgeting processes", and to rationalize division offices. DepEd is also to "develop dashboards for each school (covering outcomes, equity, resources) alongside the roll out of school-level budget and expenditure disclosure platform". The DICT, through the Open Data Task Force, is to increase the number of public education datasets, update them quarterly by 2031 and make them "usable by parents, teachers, and other key stakeholders". The public files this series analyzes are the first part of that promise.

[Education Data, Transparency and Research](https://nash.com.ph/blog/education-data-transparency-research-edcom-ii) covers EDCOM II's findings and recommendations on school data and open reporting.

### Complementarity, data and lifelong learning

Outcome 6.2.B institutionalizes public-private complementarity. By 2035, "at least 50% of incremental budget increases in education shall be in the form of portable student financing instruments like grants, loans and vouchers", which is why the classroom targets in KPA 2 count private free seats. Outcome 6.2.C builds a harmonized information system in three stages. A unified learner ID is to be operational across systems by 2028, with the Learner Reference Number as the operational identifier before a PhilSys-enabled system. Learner pathways are to be tracked longitudinally by 2031, and the learner life cycle fully covered by 2035.

Recommendation 6.2.2 adds three items. The first is a unified career guidance and scholarship platform across DepEd, CHED, TESDA and the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), modeled on Singapore's MySkillsFuture and piloted by 2028. The second is the rationalization of 130 councils and inter-agency bodies, about 90% of them by 2035. The third is a law establishing a National Education Coordination Authority. Recommendation 6.2.3 updates the charters of DepEd, CHED and TESDA. Recommendation 6.2.4 strengthens the Philippine Qualifications Framework with credit transfer and a qualifications register. Recommendation 6.2.5 implements Republic Act No. 12313, the Lifelong Learning Development Framework Act, with 18 learning cities or towns by 2028, 436 by 2031 and 4,365 by 2035, each with Community Lifelong Learning Centers.

The case study for KPA 6 is the Synergeia Foundation's proof of concept in eleven pilot areas in Iloilo. There, strengthened Local School Boards, participatory planning and performance-based budgeting produced Grade 3 reading scores of 88% in experimental schools against 81% in control schools. They raised Pavia's average from 67% to 82%, "consistent across LGUs regardless of income classification". The plan's legislative agenda includes an amendment of the Local School Board to diversify membership, broaden the uses of the Special Education Fund and enforce transparency in LGU education spending (National Education Plan document, p. 102). For a school head, the Local School Board, the SGC and the SEF are strands 5.2 (management of school organizations), 5.5 (community engagement) and 2.2 (financial management). The plan expects them to be used, not merely known.

[Local School Boards and the Special Education Fund](https://nash.com.ph/blog/local-school-board-special-education-fund) covers how the boards work, what the fund may pay for and what EDCOM II found about both.

## What the plan costs

The plan's investment framework estimates an incremental cost of PHP 2.66 trillion over 2026 to 2035, on top of current appropriations and in 2025 prices. The stand-alone [National Education Plan document](https://edcom2.gov.ph/media/2026/01/EDCOM-II_Y03_National-Education-Plan.pdf), published with the Final Report, splits that cost by sector (p. 111). Basic education takes PHP 1,616.8 billion (60.8%), higher education PHP 769.3 billion (28.9%), early childhood care and development PHP 179.2 billion (6.7%) and TVET PHP 94.9 billion (3.6%). The Final Report's own chapter rounds these to about 60% for basic education and "nearly 30%" for higher education, driven mainly by scholarships (p. 505). The target for education spending rises from 3.9% of GDP in 2025 to 4.5% in 2028, 5% in 2031 and 5.5% in 2035. In pesos, the plan document puts the implied target at PHP 1,040.9 billion in 2025, PHP 1,633.3 billion in 2028, PHP 2,350.2 billion in 2031 and PHP 3,649.2 billion in 2035 (p. 110). The two documents differ on the proposed 2026 budget: approximately 4.5% of GDP in the plan document (p. 110) and approximately 4.3% in the Final Report (p. 505). Both say current spending stays ahead of the target path until 2028. After 2028 an investment gap opens, and it reaches about PHP 623.1 billion a year by 2035 and PHP 1.91 trillion cumulatively.

KPA 2 costs PHP 365.1 billion by the 2028 milestone: PHP 149.6 billion for classrooms, PHP 116.5 billion for the administrative positions, PHP 47.8 billion for connectivity and devices, PHP 33.0 billion for ARAL and the end of mass promotion, and PHP 18.1 billion for textbooks. The plan says plainly that the estimates "do not assess absorptive capacity or implementation effectiveness" and that "some recommendations were not fully costed". Every target in this guide has a line in a budget request, and that request has to pass the DBM, Congress and the division's capacity to spend. A school head who understands this will read division memoranda about ARAL funds, repair thresholds and new plantilla items with the right expectations. That understanding is strand 2.2, financial management, at the level the standards call Career Stage 1: knowing the "policies, guidelines and issuances in managing finances such as allocation, procurement, disbursement and liquidation aligned with the school plan".

[Is the Philippines Spending Enough on Education?](https://nash.com.ph/blog/philippine-education-spending-edcom-ii) sets these costs against EDCOM II's evidence on how much the country spends and how well.

## The Filipino learner today

The chapter *The Filipino Learner Today* is the Final Report's argument for why the plan exists. It is the part a school head should read most carefully, because the standards begin with the learner. The PPSSH's first guiding principle is that "the learner is the heart of educational supervision".

### A historically large youth generation

The chapter opens with demography. Filipinos aged 15 to 24 "make up a historically high share of the population". That share will start to decline by 2040 as fertility falls, so that "for the first time, the country's future workforce and its present learners are essentially the same group". The working-age population is projected to peak at 66% to 69% between 2045 and 2055 and then decline, and the country "has less than a generation to harness this advantage". The 2020 figures showed the K to 12 effect: fewer 15- to 19-year-olds had degrees because more were still in senior high school. But they showed "very little change in the country's overall educational profile". A substantial share of young Filipinos still stop at the elementary level, while in the countries that gained from a demographic dividend that share was minimal. The chapter's diagnosis is "a large youth population without the skills foundation needed to sustain growth".

Young Filipinos themselves are confident. On the General Self-Efficacy Scale in the 2021 Young Adult Fertility and Sexuality Study (YAFS5), mean scores rise with schooling. They go from 3.872 among those with no schooling or elementary education to 3.928 in Grades 7 to 10, 4.006 in senior high school and 4.151 among those with some college, "reinforcing the link between education and agency". In a 2024 UNICEF survey, young Filipinos named employment, education and health as their priorities and asked for stronger action on climate change and mental well-being. They also carry an expectation that the chapter quotes from the Inquirer: it is a child's "duty" to bring "the entire family, including siblings and other relatives, out of poverty".

### From EDCOM I to EDCOM II

The chapter compares two moments. The first Congressional Commission on Education convened in 1990. Literacy was then rising slowly (93.5% in 1990 to 95.8% in 1995), and 40.9% of 15- to 19-year-olds were already in the labor force. EDCOM I warned, in the Final Report's paraphrase, that headline literacy figures masked deeper functional illiteracy. It called the school system "a giant sorting machine, which keeps children from well-off city families and throws out children from rural and poor families". In a point an aspiring principal should remember, the Final Report says EDCOM I also identified the school principal as a pivotal actor in ensuring external assessments of teachers and pupils: at Grade 4 for literacy, Grade 6 for achievement, and the secondary years for aptitude and vocational readiness. Its structural answer was trifocalization: DepEd for the foundations, CHED for higher education, TESDA for skills.

The second Commission convened in 2022, after the 2018 results of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). The 2022 PISA showed only marginal gains, with more than three in four Filipino students below minimum proficiency in mathematics, science, reading and creative thinking. The pandemic exposed the rest. By May 2022 the Philippines was one of five countries that had not resumed in-person classes. Around 34,500 public schools had no internet, basic education enrollment fell by roughly 800,000, and 24.7% of young learners did not enroll in AY 2020-2021.

Youth employment fell from 34.2% in July 2024 to 29.5% in July 2025, informality reached 62.8%, and TVET graduates recorded 22.6% underemployment. About 15% of 15- to 24-year-olds were out of school and out of work in SY 2020-2021. Asked why they left, 44.17% cited the need to work, 24.94% lack of interest, 20.98% financial pressure and 3.99% marriage or pregnancy. The share of TVET graduates with some college rose from 32% in 2012 to 55% in 2022, "a corrective or alternative pathway after incomplete or unproductive college experiences". Nine in ten economically inactive young women cited household and family duties.

### Three aspirations

The chapter finds three aspirations repeated across surveys.

**To finish or return to education.** Among those enrolled, 78% aspire to complete their education and 10% to earn graduate degrees. Of the 15% who were out of school in AY 2020-2021, 59% intend to return. In the Longitudinal Cohort Study of the Filipino Child, 90% of parents wanted a college degree for their child at age 10, and 93% when the child reached senior high school. Half of the parents who doubted it would happen cited the cost.

**To find good work, often abroad.** Sixty-five percent of young Filipinos aspire to work in international labor markets or migrate, and 33% lament the lack of entry-level jobs. TVET graduates are 72% more likely than college graduates to aim for work abroad. At age 10 the most common job aspirations are teacher and policeman, split by gender. The chapter notes that "young learners may shift their aspirations if they see enough models within their horizons of possibilities".

**To contribute to family, society and nation.** Eighty-three percent aspire to marry, ideally at 24 to 26. Of those of voting age, 81% were registered and 95% intended to vote in 2022, and 95% agree that citizens have both the right to vote and the duty to protect natural resources. Yet young people in post-conflict Marawi described being "invited but only for tokenistic purposes". The chapter's conclusion: "The Filipino Dream, from this perspective, is deeply personal, anchored on family, and unmistakably social. It is rooted in education as preparation, labor as fulfillment, and civic life as duty. To support it is to meet youth not at the margins of policy, but at its center."

### Six hindrances

1. **Inaccessibility of education.** In SY 2024-2025, 59,755 of 2,070,358 Grade 1 enrollees dropped out (2.89%). In Grade 7, 78,252 of 2,141,724 dropped out (3.65%), and in Grade 11, 169,836 of 2,041,601 (8.32%). These are the entry grades of each key stage. Transport, food and the opportunity cost of lost income deter participation even where tuition is free. Young people who are students, workers and breadwinners at the same time experience what the chapter calls an "interrupted transition".
2. **Learning poverty.** Ninety-one percent of Filipino children could not read proficiently by late primary age in the World Bank's 2022 estimate. In the 2024 Functional Literacy, Education and Mass Media Survey, seven in ten Filipinos aged 10 to 64 are functionally literate, and 18% of college students and 7% of graduate-degree holders are not. The Catholic Bishops' Conference called the situation "a moral emergency".
3. **A culture of scarcity from underused or misallocated resources.** The Tertiary Education Subsidy often fails to reach 4Ps graduates, and funds leak. The chapter says: "for students, scarcity manifests as empty libraries, unpaid allowances, or delayed stipends. For teachers and administrators, it means improvising with minimal materials."
4. **Few options for out-of-school youth.** ALS enrolled 655,517 learners in 2023-24 and 302,807 finished, a completion rate of 46.2%. Of TESDA's programs, more than 12,000 are at NC II and only 26 at NC IV.
5. **Unsupportive environments.** On PISA 2022, 43% of girls and 53% of boys reported being bullied at least a few times a month, among the highest rates in the world. About three in ten children grow up without at least one parent at home because of labor migration. In the Longitudinal Cohort Study, 33.7% of children had witnessed physical violence at home in 2016, falling to 17.9% by 2022, and emotional bullying fell from 46% to 27%. Children exposed to violence at home were significantly less likely to progress through school as expected. "Poor attendance is often a symptom of hidden harm at home or in school."
6. **Lack of inclusive education reforms.** Implementation of Republic Act No. 11650 is uneven, the Special Education Fund is underused, and reliable data on learners with disabilities do not exist, so "families, in turn, bear the private cost of what should be a public guarantee". Indigenous learners meet language barriers and misaligned curricula; Last Mile Schools lack teachers, electricity and materials.

### What the chapter asks schools to do

The chapter's remedies are institutional supports: "mentors to steady ambition, assessments that genuinely guide, immersion that makes futures visible, and counselors who detect early warning signs". It calls for a full review of the National Career Assessment Examination (NCAE). NCAE results from SY 2016-2017 to 2018-2019 ranked Spiritual Vocation, Community Services and Science as the top student interests, and Engineering fifteenth every year, with consistently low mathematical ability limiting access to engineering and commerce. The review should ask whether the test measures aptitude accurately, whether it reinforces socioeconomic or gender bias, and whether schools, TESDA and CHED actually use its results.

The chapter asks for counseling embedded in schools as an early-warning system, noting that less than half of guidance counselor posts were filled from 2018 to 2021. It asks for mechanisms "that connect attendance data with psychosocial support", which is what the 40,853 School Counselor Associate I items in KPA 2 are for. It asks schools to treat student councils, clubs and service programs "not as peripheral activities but as integral to citizenship formation", as "laboratories of participation" where learners deliberate, organize and take responsibility.

Finally, it asks for continuity between basic education, ALS, TVET and college. Dropouts rose again in SY 2022-2023 to 144,314 in elementary, 148,222 in junior high and 20,057 in senior high. ALS enrollment peaked above 618,000 in 2018-2019 and was about 482,000 in 2022-2023. TVET graduates' employment rises from 37% before training to 58% a year after it. The Enterprise-Based Education and Training Framework Act is to make industry-led training "a stable, credible bridge from learning to livelihood".

The public enrollment files add the national grade-to-grade ratios. In SY 2025-2026, Grade 7 enrollment was 0.981 of the previous year's Grade 6, and Grade 4 was 0.988 of the previous year's Grade 3. Grade 11 was 1.006 of the previous Grade 10, because senior high school absorbs returnees and transfers. Total enrollment fell from 27.79 million in SY 2022-2023 to 25.94 million in SY 2025-2026, and kindergarten fell from 2.27 million in SY 2017-2018 to 1.99 million. The plan's early-grade targets will therefore be pursued with smaller cohorts. Those cohorts are the generation the chapter describes.

### The chapter and the PPSSH

Every one of the chapter's themes is a PPSSH strand. Learner aspirations and tokenistic consultation are strand 1.6, learner voice. Indicator 1.6.1 asks a Career Stage 1 school head to "demonstrate knowledge and understanding of utilizing learner voice to inform policy development and decision-making towards school improvement". Bullying, violence at home and absenteeism are strand 3.8, learner discipline, and strand 3.6, the learning environment. At Career Stage 1, strand 3.8 means knowing "existing national and local policies related to learner discipline", among them Republic Act No. 10627 and the Child Protection Policy of [DepEd Order No. 40, s. 2012](https://www.deped.gov.ph/2012/05/14/do-40-s-2012-deped-child-protection-policy/). The NCAE review and the pathways to TVET and college are strand 3.7, career awareness and opportunities. Student councils and clubs are strand 5.2, management of school organizations. Learners with disabilities, IP learners and Muslim learners are strand 5.3, inclusive practice. Left-behind children and the parents who want college for their child are strands 5.1 and 5.5. The chapter supplies the national facts, and your school's own data supply the local ones. The standards expect you to connect them.

[RA 12080, Bullying and School Mental Health](https://nash.com.ph/blog/school-mental-health-bullying-ra-12080-edcom-ii) covers EDCOM II's findings on bullying and the shortage of school counselors, and what the law requires of schools.

## Reflections on Reform: what the report leaves to school heads

The Final Report's closing chapter, *Reflections on Reform*, notes that the Commission's consultations found "half of all public schools were found to operate without principals". It draws a lesson from three decades: "fixing structures alone does not fix learning", and "governance reform is necessary, but never sufficient". It then addresses school heads directly: "The Reports are not endpoints, but milestones. What follows belongs to school leaders, supervisors, educators, and communities who will turn strategies into sustained progress." Its three lessons for whoever continues the work are that systemic problems demand systemic responses, that coalitions matter, and that "reform is never finished". The Year Two Report documented "positive deviance", schools and communities that achieved better-than-expected outcomes with limited resources. That record is the plan's reminder that the targets in this guide have already been met somewhere.

## How the NatPlan relates to the PPSSH strands

| NatPlan element | PPSSH strands | What the public data add |
|---|---|---|
| Mission, mapping exercise, fundamental skills pyramid | 1.1 vision, mission and core values; 1.3 policy implementation and review | Which of the plan's outcomes the public files can measure, and which they cannot |
| KPA 2 outcomes: CRLA, RMA, ELLNA, Phil-IRI targets with equity rows | 3.4 learner achievement; 3.5 learning assessment; 1.7 monitoring and evaluation; 1.2 school planning | 15.7% at grade level and 5.3% in Grade 1 mother tongue in the assessed schools; ELLNA mean 63.2; Numeracy 53.6 |
| 2.1.1 classrooms, repairs, QRF, hazard design | 2.3 facilities and equipment; 2.5 school safety | 30% of buildings in good condition; 35.1 learners per room; 29.1% of schools with makeshift rooms |
| 2.1.2 textbooks and MTB-MLE materials | 2.3; 3.1 learning standards | 1:1 target against about 10.0 million of 13.3 million learners with complete sets |
| 2.1.3 internet, laptops, devices, electrification | 2.1 records management with ICT; 1.4 research and innovation | 76.2% of elementary schools with internet; 24.6% of schools without an academic computer; 6.6 computers per 100 learners |
| 2.1.4 ARAL, RPMS and OPCRF revision, transmutation phase-out | 3.4; 3.5; 4.4 performance management; 3.2 pedagogies | What a six-learner NAT mean can and cannot say about a school; the 0.06 CRLA-ELLNA correlation |
| 2.1.5 administrative positions, forms, digitization | 2.4 management of staff; 4.7 general welfare; 2.1 | 25.5 learners per teacher; 7.6% master teachers; median 9 teachers per school |
| Beyond functional literacy: SEL, values, kapwa | 3.6 learning environment; 5.3 inclusive practice | Bullying survey figures from the Filipino Learner chapter |
| KPA 1 nutrition, feeding, early learning | 5.5 community engagement; 3.6 | Kindergarten enrollment 1.99 million in SY 2025-26 |
| KPA 3 specialization match, TechPro, career pathways | 2.4; 3.7 career awareness | NAT Science 53.8 and Mathematics 56.4; SHS strand enrollment |
| KPA 4 inclusive learning outcomes and infrastructure | 5.3; 3.6; 2.6 emerging opportunities and challenges | 9.3% IP learners nationally, 71.9% in CAR; 1.4% ALIVE, 18.2% in BARMM; 2.0% multigrade |
| 6.1.2 principal items, occupancy, SBM competencies, Principals Academy | 4.6 leadership development; 4.1 personal and professional development; 1.3 | 43.4% of schools with a principal position; 78.5% of the smallest schools with none |
| 6.2 SBM, SGC, SIP, MOOE formula, implementing units, dashboards, open data | 1.2; 2.2 financial management; 5.2 school organizations; 5.5; 1.7 | 2.0% locally funded teachers nationally, 12.6% in BARMM; the public files themselves |
| The Filipino Learner Today | 1.6 learner voice; 3.7; 3.8 learner discipline; 5.1; 5.3 | Grade-to-grade cohort ratios; learner types by region |

## How the NASH may test this

DepEd Memorandum No. 069, s. 2025 describes "conceptual and situational critical thinking questions" built on the SOLO taxonomy. The SOLO taxonomy grades a response by its structure: one relevant idea, several unconnected ideas, ideas connected into a coherent whole, and a whole generalized to new cases. The NatPlan suits the upper levels because it is itself a structure of connected targets.

A conceptual item might ask what distinguishes an outcome, a recommendation and a target output in a results framework. It might ask why the plan's milestone years are 2028, 2031 and 2035, or what the equity targets for the ELLNA are for.

A situational stem might describe a newly appointed principal of a 160-learner elementary school in a Last Mile division, the first principal the school has had. The school's end-of-year CRLA shows 30% of Key Stage 1 learners at grade level. The division has asked every school to submit SIP targets "aligned with the National Education Plan", and the teachers still accomplish fifteen forms a month. A unistructural answer says the national target for 2028 is 75%. A multistructural answer lists the national target, the ARAL Program, the forms reduction and the equity targets without relating them.

A relational answer does five things. It sets a school target on the plan's equity path for Last Mile Schools rather than the national one. It explains that target to the division with the school's own baseline. It plans preventive Grade 1 instruction and ARAL remediation as separate protected blocks. It uses DepEd Order No. 006, s. 2025 and the incoming Administrative Officer II to free teachers' time. And it names the monitoring that will show in 2027 whether the plan is working. An extended-abstract answer explains why the same approach would be wrong in a 2,000-learner city school on double shifts, where the limiting factor is classrooms under Recommendation 2.1.1. It also explains what the two cases say about why the plan has equity targets at all.

A second stem might draw on the Filipino Learner chapter. It could describe a Grade 11 cohort with 8% dropping out by October, a student council that reports bullying the Child Protection Committee has not acted on, and a parent-teacher association (PTA) that wants the school to focus on the NAT. The connected answer links attendance data to psychosocial support and the School Counselor Associate. It treats the council's report as learner voice under strand 1.6 rather than as a complaint, and it applies the anti-bullying and child protection policies. It also shows the PTA that the plan's own targets for Grade 10 reading and Grade 12 proficiency depend on keeping learners in school.

Nothing in this guide reproduces or predicts examination content. It presents the plan and the evidence the examination says it is aligned with.

## Numbers worth knowing

| Item | Figure |
|---|---|
| Mission year; milestone years | 2035; 2028, 2031, 2035 |
| Key Priority Areas; priority recommendations | 6; 20 |
| CRLA, Key Stage 1 at grade level | 47.74% to 75% (2028), 90% (2031), 95% (2035) |
| RMA, Key Stage 1 numeracy at grade level | 40.49% to 65%, 75%, 85% |
| ELLNA, Grade 3 at least proficient | 30.52% to 50%, 70%, 90% |
| Phil-IRI, Grade 10 grade ready | Filipino 42.1% to 87%; English 18.1% to 63% by 2035 |
| NAT Grade 12 at least proficient | 0.4% to 30%, 60%, 90% |
| Classrooms to build | 40,000 by 2028; 82,089 by 2035; deficit 219,000 |
| Schools with a School Principal item | 52% (23,661) to 100% (45,785) by 2028: 6,000, 8,000, 8,124 |
| Principals meeting SBM competencies | 0% to 33% by 2028, 100% by 2035 |
| New support items by 2028 | 12,078 AO II; 44,285 PDO I; 40,853 School Counselor Associate I |
| Education spending | 3.9% of GDP to 4.5%, 5%, 5.5% |
| Incremental cost of the plan | PHP 2.66 trillion, 60.8% for basic education |
| Learners with disabilities enrolled | 7.8% to 34%, 59%, 85% |
| Teachers with a subject mismatch | 74.69% to 0% by 2028 |

## Frequently asked questions

### What is the National Education Plan 2026-2035?

The National Education Plan 2026-2035 is the ten-year roadmap in EDCOM II's Final Report, *Turning Point*, required by Section 7 of Republic Act No. 11899. It states a mission for 2035, six Key Priority Areas with outcomes and targets for 2028, 2031 and 2035, twenty priority recommendations, a lead agency for every target, and a costing of PHP 2.66 trillion in incremental investment. EDCOM II calls it the NatPlan, and a Workforce Development Plan accompanies it.

### Is the National Education Plan a law or a DepEd order?

Neither. EDCOM II is a congressional commission and its plan has no force of its own. It becomes binding through the laws it proposes, the budgets Congress approves and the DepEd issuances that adopt its targets. Several of its recommendations are already policy: DepEd Order No. 002, s. 2024 and No. 006, s. 2025 on teachers' tasks and forms, Republic Act No. 12028 on ARAL, [Republic Act No. 12288 on career progression](https://nash.com.ph/blog/ra-12288-career-progression-changes), and the FY 2026 normative MOOE formula.

### What does the National Education Plan say about school principals?

Recommendation 6.1.2 sets a School Principal plantilla item for every DepEd-managed school by 2028. From 23,661 schools (52%) in June 2025, DepEd is to add 6,000 items in 2026, 8,000 in 2027 and 8,124 in 2028. The recommendation keeps occupancy at 100% and asks a third of principals to meet school-based management competencies by 2028 through a Principals Academy under NEAP. In 2026 it asks DepEd to link graduate programs to leadership pathways and to institutionalize succession planning in schools. The Final Report adds an Instructional Leadership Framework and an OPCRF that puts classroom observation and coaching first.

### Which National Education Plan targets will my school be measured on?

If you lead an elementary or integrated school: the CRLA and RMA shares of Key Stage 1 learners at grade level, the ELLNA proficiency rate in Grade 3, class shifts, classroom repairs, textbook completeness, internet and devices, and the inclusive-education enrollment rates. If you lead a secondary school: the Grade 10 Phil-IRI, the Grade 12 NAT, teacher specialization match, SHS TechPro and school-to-employment pathways. All of them will be read against a revised RPMS and OPCRF.

### How does the Filipino Learner chapter help with the NASH?

It is the evidence behind the PPSSH strands on learner voice, learner discipline, career awareness, inclusive practice and community engagement: the aspirations young Filipinos report, the six barriers they meet, and the supports the Commission asks schools to build. Situational items that describe a learner, a council or a parent are easier to answer well when you know what the national surveys say about them.

### Where can I read the National Education Plan 2026-2035?

EDCOM II publishes the Final Report and its chapters, including the National Education Plan and *The Filipino Learner Today*, on its website. The figures in this guide follow the printed edition of January 2026.

## Download the data

The cleaned, harmonized DepEd files behind this series are free to download in CSV and Parquet, with a codebook and checksums, under the [terms of use](https://nash.com.ph/blog/download-cleaned-deped-school-data#terms-of-use-and-citation) set out in the release. [Download Cleaned DepEd School Data, SY 2017-18 to 2025-26](https://nash.com.ph/blog/download-cleaned-deped-school-data) documents every file and column. The files themselves are at data.nash.com.ph, starting with the [README](https://data.nash.com.ph/deped-data/v1/README.md), the [SY 2023-24 school master file](https://data.nash.com.ph/deped-data/v1/school_master_2023.csv.gz) (CSV, 8.0 MB) and the [nine-year enrollment panel](https://data.nash.com.ph/deped-data/v1/enrollment_panel_long.parquet) (Parquet, 17.2 MB).

## The EDCOM II series

The reports:

- [What EDCOM II Achieved, 2023-2025: Laws, Budgets, Policies](https://nash.com.ph/blog/edcom-ii-accomplishments-2023-2025)
- [EDCOM II's Three Reports: How the Key Numbers Changed](https://nash.com.ph/blog/edcom-ii-reports-key-numbers)
- [EDCOM II Final Report: Guide for Aspiring School Heads](https://nash.com.ph/blog/edcom-ii-final-report)
- National Education Plan 2026-2035: Guide for School Heads (this post)
- [100 Years After the Monroe Report: Education Commissions](https://nash.com.ph/blog/monroe-report-100-years-edcom-ii)
- [Is the Philippines Spending Enough on Education?](https://nash.com.ph/blog/philippine-education-spending-edcom-ii)
- [Education Data, Transparency and Research: EDCOM II](https://nash.com.ph/blog/education-data-transparency-research-edcom-ii)

Learners and learning:

- [Mass Promotion and Lost Instructional Time: EDCOM II](https://nash.com.ph/blog/mass-promotion-instructional-time-edcom-ii)
- [PISA, TIMSS, SEA-PLM and the NAT: What EDCOM II Found](https://nash.com.ph/blog/pisa-timss-sea-plm-nat-edcom-ii)
- [Mother Tongue After RA 12027: Language of Instruction](https://nash.com.ph/blog/language-of-instruction-ra-12027-edcom-ii)
- [Why DepEd Bought Only 27 Textbook Titles in 2012-2023](https://nash.com.ph/blog/deped-textbook-shortage-edcom-ii)
- [RA 12080, Bullying and School Mental Health: EDCOM II](https://nash.com.ph/blog/school-mental-health-bullying-ra-12080-edcom-ii)
- [RA 11650 and Learners With Disabilities: EDCOM II Findings](https://nash.com.ph/blog/learners-with-disabilities-ra-11650-edcom-ii)
- [Senior High School and Jobs: EDCOM II Workforce Findings](https://nash.com.ph/blog/senior-high-school-jobs-edcom-ii)

Schools, teachers and governance:

- [Teacher Workload and Accountability: EDCOM II Findings](https://nash.com.ph/blog/teacher-workload-accountability-edcom-ii)
- [Local School Boards and the Special Education Fund](https://nash.com.ph/blog/local-school-board-special-education-fund)
- [Local Education Models in EDCOM II: What the Evidence Shows](https://nash.com.ph/blog/local-education-reform-models-edcom-ii)
- [Education in the Bangsamoro: EDCOM II Findings for BARMM](https://nash.com.ph/blog/bangsamoro-education-barmm-edcom-ii)

## Guides for aspiring school heads

- [DepEd Data for Aspiring School Heads: Where to Start](https://nash.com.ph/blog/deped-data-aspiring-school-heads)
- [NASH Practice Questions With Answers: 50 Items on the PPSSH](https://nash.com.ph/blog/nash-practice-questions-with-answers)
- [How to Read DepEd Data: A Guide for Aspiring School Heads](https://nash.com.ph/blog/how-to-read-deped-data)
- [EDCOM II Final Report: Guide for Aspiring School Heads](https://nash.com.ph/blog/edcom-ii-final-report)
- [NASH Study Guide: DepEd Memorandum 069, s. 2025 and PPSSH](https://nash.com.ph/blog/nash-study-guide-ppssh)
- [PPSSH Domain 1: Leading Strategically With DepEd Data](https://nash.com.ph/blog/ppssh-domain-1-leading-strategically)
- [PPSSH Domain 2: Managing School Operations With DepEd Data](https://nash.com.ph/blog/ppssh-domain-2-managing-school-operations)
- [PPSSH Domain 3: Teaching and Learning With DepEd Data](https://nash.com.ph/blog/ppssh-domain-3-teaching-and-learning)
- [PPSSH Domain 4: Developing Self and Others With DepEd Data](https://nash.com.ph/blog/ppssh-domain-4-developing-self-and-others)
- [PPSSH Domain 5: Building Connections With DepEd Data](https://nash.com.ph/blog/ppssh-domain-5-building-connections)
- On the app: the [NASH guide](https://nash.com.ph/nash), the [PPSSH guide](https://nash.com.ph/ppssh), the [NASH results](https://nash.com.ph/nash-results), the [principal shortage](https://nash.com.ph/principal-shortage) and the full data report, [Philippine basic education in numbers](https://nash.com.ph/deped-data)

## The data reports

- [DepEd Enrollment Trends SY 2017-2018 to SY 2025-2026](https://nash.com.ph/blog/deped-enrollment-trends-2017-2026)
- Enrollment by school year: [SY 2017-18](https://nash.com.ph/blog/deped-enrollment-sy-2017-2018), [SY 2018-19](https://nash.com.ph/blog/deped-enrollment-sy-2018-2019), [SY 2019-20](https://nash.com.ph/blog/deped-enrollment-sy-2019-2020), [SY 2020-21](https://nash.com.ph/blog/deped-enrollment-sy-2020-2021), [SY 2021-22](https://nash.com.ph/blog/deped-enrollment-sy-2021-2022), [SY 2022-23](https://nash.com.ph/blog/deped-enrollment-sy-2022-2023), [SY 2023-24](https://nash.com.ph/blog/deped-enrollment-sy-2023-2024), [SY 2024-25](https://nash.com.ph/blog/deped-enrollment-sy-2024-2025), [SY 2025-26](https://nash.com.ph/blog/deped-enrollment-sy-2025-2026)
- [DepEd Learner Data SY 2023-2024: IP, ALIVE and School Size](https://nash.com.ph/blog/deped-learner-data-sy-2023-2024)
- [DepEd Teachers and School Personnel Data, SY 2023-2024](https://nash.com.ph/blog/deped-teachers-school-personnel-data-sy-2023-2024)
- [DepEd Classroom and School Building Data, SY 2023-2024](https://nash.com.ph/blog/deped-classroom-school-building-data-sy-2023-2024)
- [DepEd WASH Data SY 2023-2024: Toilets, Water, Electricity](https://nash.com.ph/blog/deped-wash-data-sy-2023-2024)
- [DepEd ICT Data SY 2023-2024: Computers and Internet](https://nash.com.ph/blog/deped-ict-data-sy-2023-2024)
- [NAT Grade 6 Results SY 2023-2024: DepEd Division Scores](https://nash.com.ph/blog/nat-grade-6-results-sy-2023-2024)
- [ELLNA Grade 3 Results SY 2023-2024: DepEd Division Scores](https://nash.com.ph/blog/ellna-grade-3-results-sy-2023-2024)
- [CRLA Results SY 2025-2026: Reading Levels in Grades 1 to 3](https://nash.com.ph/blog/crla-results-sy-2025-2026)
- [DepEd School Inputs vs Test Results: Multigrade and Internet](https://nash.com.ph/blog/deped-school-inputs-vs-test-results)
- [DepEd Open Data Quality: Errors, Blanks and Coverage Limits](https://nash.com.ph/blog/deped-open-data-quality)
- [Download Cleaned DepEd School Data, SY 2017-18 to 2025-26](https://nash.com.ph/blog/download-cleaned-deped-school-data)

*Written by Mark Anthony Llego for NASH Reviewer. Sources: EDCOM II, Turning Point: A Decade of Necessary Reform (2026-2035), Final Report, January 2026, including The National Education Plan (2026-2035), The Filipino Learner Today and Reflections on Reform; [DepEd Order No. 024, s. 2020](https://www.deped.gov.ph/2020/09/07/september-7-2020-do-024-s-2020-national-adoption-and-implementation-of-the-philippine-professional-standards-for-school-heads/); DepEd Memorandum No. 069, s. 2025; [DepEd Memorandum No. 097, s. 2025](https://www.deped.gov.ph/2025/10/21/october-21-2025-dm-097-s-2025-results-of-the-national-assessment-for-school-heads-for-fiscal-year-2025-batch-1/) and [No. 044, s. 2026](https://www.deped.gov.ph/2026/07/04/july-4-2026-dm-044-s-2026-results-of-the-national-assessment-for-school-heads-for-fiscal-year-2025-batch-2/); [Republic Act No. 12322](https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/2026/08/02/republic-act-no-12322/); DepEd public datasets. Charts may be reused only with written permission from support@nash.com.ph.*

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© 2026 Mark Anthony Llego, NASH Reviewer. All rights reserved. You may quote up to 100 words from this article with the author's name, its title and a link. In research, cite it as: Llego, M. A. (2026, October 25). *National Education Plan 2026-2035: Guide for School Heads*. NASH Reviewer. https://nash.com.ph/blog/national-education-plan-2026-2035. Any other reuse of the article, its charts or its data needs written permission: email support@nash.com.ph. Terms of Service: https://nash.com.ph/terms#website-content-and-data