Marcos Vows Stronger Support for Teachers, Education Reform

June 19, 2025 — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has renewed his call to strengthen support for public school teachers, describing them as “the hardest working public servants” and key to improving the country’s education system.

In his latest podcast episode, Marcos addressed major issues in the sector, including flaws in the K-12 program, classroom shortages, and outdated teacher training. He urged the Department of Education (DepEd) to revise the curriculum to address concerns over graduates’ employability, while leaving any decision to abolish K-12 to Congress.

He also cited a classroom backlog of 160,000 and said the government is partnering with the private sector through Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) to build new schools more quickly.

To reduce teachers' non-teaching workload, Marcos announced plans to hire more support staff and introduce retraining programs. He also criticized the current performance audit system that encourages grade inflation, promising reforms to ensure accurate student assessments.

“We will help you as much as possible so that our young people can be good, smart, and knowledgeable,” Marcos told teachers.