ILOILO City – Western Visayas schools face tougher days as rising student enrollment collides with thousands of unfilled teaching posts, raising alarm over overcrowded classrooms and the quality of instruction.
The Department of Education (DepEd) reported that as of September 19, 2025, a total of 53,081 teaching positions have been filled across the region, while 3,272 remain vacant and are still undergoing the hiring process in line with Department of Budget and Management (DBM) guidelines.
“Subject and grade levels data are in the division offices. Nevertheless, the Regional Office assures that when positions are open or authorized, these are immediately processed to ensure personnel are hired as soon as possible,” said DepEd Region 6 information officer Hernani Escullar Jr.
The vacancies, DepEd said, vary across grade levels and subjects but the gaps are aggravated by the steady growth of the student population.
Many school heads are forced to improvise by splitting classes into multiple sessions — a stopgap measure that keeps learning going but does little to ease teacher workload or guarantee quality education.
ENROLLMENT STRAIN TESTS CLASSROOMS
DepEd’s standards cap class sizes at 30 pupils for Kindergarten, 35 for Grades 1-3, 45 for Grades 4-10, and 40 for senior high school. But teachers in Western Visayas often find themselves managing much larger groups, reducing opportunities for individualized instruction and affecting student outcomes.
Enrollment patterns, DepEd officials stressed, are a major determinant of future hiring needs. Data-driven tools such as Classroom Observable Indicators (COI), Non-Classroom Observable Indicators (NCOI), and performance review systems like the Individual Performance Commitment and Review (IPCR) guide both teacher deployment and professional development planning.
TEACHERS UNDER PRESSURE
Overcrowded classrooms have become a breeding ground for exhaustion among educators, with many citing stress, declining student participation, and weaker academic performance as inevitable consequences.
Education stakeholders say addressing the shortage requires more than filling vacancies. It demands sustained investment, a faster hiring pipeline, and stronger support systems to ensure that teachers can cope with the demands of a growing student body.
As the region’s classrooms swell, DepEd faces mounting pressure not only to plug current gaps but to future-proof the education system. The challenge, officials admit, lies in creating a resilient and adaptable teaching workforce capable of keeping pace with Western Visayas’ expanding learner population./PN
