From the EDCOM II reports
The principal shortage, in numbers
About half of Philippine public schools run without a principal item. These charts show what the Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM II) found, where the gap concentrates, and what it means if you are preparing for the NASH.
- Of public schools, about 23,000 of 45,928, still had no principal item in October 2026
- About half
- Of schools without a principal are led by Head Teachers or TICs
- 89.8%
- Principal positions planned for 2026 to 2028
- 22,124
- Pass rate of the 2023 NQESH
- 26%
About half our public schools have no principal item
A school without a principal item has no post for a principal to fill. An interim head runs it instead.
Show the data as a table
| Count | No principal item |
|---|---|
| SY 2024–2025 (EDCOM II) | 48% |
| January 2026 (DepEd, 48,113 schools) | 55% |
| October 2026 (DepEd, 45,928 schools) | About 50% |
In October 2026, DepEd told the Senate that about 23,000 of 45,928 public schools, about half, still had no principal item, down from 55% in January 2026. In SY 2024–2025, EDCOM counted 18,576 schools without a principal item.
DepEd has committed to one principal for every school. EDCOM calls the state of school leadership “a binding constraint that critically limits the ability of DepEd to realistically pursue decentralization.”
Two kinds of interim head lead most of these schools
Head Teachers and Teachers-in-Charge run the great majority of schools without a principal. They are also the people closest to the post.
- Head Teachers and Teachers-in-Charge
- Other interim heads
Show the data as a table
| Head of school | Schools | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Head Teacher | 13,332 | 53.8% |
| Teacher-in-Charge | 8,916 | 36.0% |
| Officer-in-Charge | 2,337 | 9.4% |
| Not recorded | 193 | 0.8% |
Head Teachers and Teachers-in-Charge lead 89.8% of schools without a principal.
This is the Pareto pattern, often called the 80/20 rule: a few categories hold most of the total. Here, two of four groups account for nearly 9 in 10 schools.
Lead a school now? See the rules for Head Teachers and what a first appointment requires.
Most misassigned school-head items are in elementary schools
12,057 schools have a school-head item that does not follow DepEd’s own policy. The problem concentrates in schools with elementary grades.
- Schools with elementary grades
- All other schools
Show the data as a table
| School level | Schools | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Elementary only | 8,533 | 70.8% |
| Elementary and junior high | 639 | 5.3% |
| All other schools | 2,885 | 23.9% |
Schools with elementary grades hold 76.1% of the misassigned items.
Another Pareto concentration. Fixing allocation rules for elementary schools would address most of the problem.
The exam that gates the post
Every first appointment to School Principal requires a pass in the school head assessment. Its predecessor, the NQESH, was held irregularly and passed few.
- Aligned with the PPSSH
- Earlier standard (NCBSSH)
Show the data as a table
| Exam year | Pass rate | Passers | Standard |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 2.22% | 388 | NCBSSH |
| 2017 | 24.75% | 5,111 | NCBSSH |
| 2018 | 0.68% | 148 | NCBSSH |
| 2019 | No exam | ||
| 2020 | No exam | ||
| 2021 | 36% | 2,203 | PPSSH |
| 2022 | No exam | ||
| 2023 | 26% | 5,753 | PPSSH |
In 2018, just 148 of about 23,000 examinees passed. No exam was held in 2019, 2020, or 2022.
Since 2021 the exam has followed the PPSSH. EDCOM found that “the low passing rates in the most recent exams (2021 and 2023) reflect a gap in training for aspiring candidates that aligns with the PPSSH.”
The NQESH became the NASH in 2025. Read the NASH guide.
Positions approved for 2026, none yet for 2027
The budget department approved 6,000 new principal positions for 2026; by October 2026 about 2,000 had been filled. The proposed 2027 budget funds no new positions, although DepEd asked for more than 14,000. The National Education Plan still targets 22,124 new positions by 2028: one principal for every school.
- With planned new positions
- Existing positions
Show the data as a table
| Year | Added | Total | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| June 2025 | 23,661 | Existing | |
| 2026 | +6,000 | 29,661 | Allocated |
| 2027 | +8,000 | 37,661 | Target |
| 2028 | +8,124 | 45,785 | Target |
Each new position needs a first-time principal, and every first appointment requires a pass in the school head assessment.
Planned additions for each year from 2026 to 2028 exceed the passers of any single NQESH since 2016, at most 5,753.
The 80/20 view
Economist Vilfredo Pareto observed that about 80% of Italy’s land belonged to about 20% of its people. The same uneven split, a few causes behind most of an effect, runs through the EDCOM data.
A few groups hold most of the gap
Head Teachers and Teachers-in-Charge lead 89.8% of schools without a principal. Schools with elementary grades hold 76.1% of misassigned items.
One gate decides who fills it
22,124 positions are planned by 2028, and each first appointment requires a pass in the school head assessment. The NQESH never produced more than 5,753 passers in a year.
One lever is yours
EDCOM traced recent low pass rates to a training gap aligned with the PPSSH. Study the standards, and spend most of your time on the few strands where you score lowest.
Why principals matter
School leadership shapes how teachers work and how learners perform. EDCOM’s findings show how little support aspiring leaders get.
Better school management is linked to student gains: “a 1 standard deviation increase in management quality associated with a 0.2 to 0.4 standard deviation improvement in student performance.”
Little support for school leaders
School leaders have received limited professional development support from DepEd or NEAP since 2018.
No induction for new principals
There has been no formal induction program for new principals since 2018, when NEAP last ran the School Head Development Program.
A principal for every school
EDCOM recommends a principal plantilla position for every school, filled through streamlined, transparent selection.
The PPSSH as the foundation
EDCOM recommends that the PPSSH be the foundation for development programs for aspiring school heads.
In a school without a principal, a teacher-in-charge leads the School Improvement Plan. Read what that means for the plan in Is the School Improvement Plan working?
About these numbers
EDCOM’s reports draw on several DepEd systems, and their counts do not always agree. Here is how this page handles each difference.
- Figure 10 gives 24,916 schools without a principal, but its four groups sum to 24,778. Shares in the chart use the sum of the groups.
- The 48% figure counts schools without a principal item in SY 2024–2025 (Final Report). DepEd’s January 2026 count (55% of 48,113 schools) and October 2026 count (about 23,000 of 45,928, about half) use other dates and school totals, so the three are not a smooth trend. The Year Two report’s 45% counts schools with a designated principal (SY 2023–2024), which is a different measure.
- EDCOM II’s 18 October 2026 release puts the October share at “around 45%”, but the counts it reports from the hearing (about 22,000 of 45,928 schools with principals, about 23,000 without) come to about half, as do other reports of the hearing and January’s count less the posts filled since. This page uses the counts.
- Table 13 lists the 2018 pass rate as 0.68%; the report’s text gives 0.64%, with 148 passers out of about 23,000 examinees.
- The 2021 exam was administered in FY 2022 online, and the 2023 exam in FY 2024, both after procurement delays.
- Positions for 2027 and 2028 are National Education Plan targets. Only the 2026 positions were approved; the proposed FY 2027 budget includes no new principal positions.
How to cite this page
Use APA style (7th edition). The date is the day the page was last updated. Where you use a figure or a rule, also cite the law, issuance, or report the page names for it.
Llego, M. A. (2026, October 30). The principal shortage, in numbers. NASH Reviewer. https://nash.com.ph/principal-shortage
In-text citation: (Llego, 2026).
22,124 positions planned by 2028
Be ready when your school’s principal item opens
Each new position needs a first-time principal who has passed the school head assessment. Start practicing the PPSSH now, before the next one is announced.
- Meet the qualification standards
- Pass the school head assessmentWhere we help
- Rank in the comparative assessment
- First appointment as School Principal I