📷: Alliance of Concerned Teachers
As School Year 2025-2026 officially opens today, the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) Philippines staged a sunrise protest at Mendiola to expose the dismal state of schools nationwide and to call out the Marcos Jr. administration for its chronic neglect, which has resulted in further decline in education quality and deplorable school conditions.
Teachers and parents set up a makeshift classroom at Mendiola using monobloc chairs and held cleaning supplies, all showing how communities are forced to spend from their own limited means to fill government gaps.
“Sasabak na naman tayo sa isang taong panuruan sa ilalim ng sistema ng edukasyon na kulang na kulang ang pondo kaya’t nag-uumapaw ang mga kakulangan at pababa nang pababa ang kalidad. Taon-taon na lang, mga guro lagi ang taya para punan ang maraming kakulangan sa mga eskwela mula paglilinis at pagkukumpuni hanggang sa mga pangangailangan ng mga mag-aaral. We bear the brunt of this systemic neglect, and today’s protest is our call for government to finally carry the heavier burden it owes to Filipino learners and educators,” stated Vladimer Quetua, ACT Chairperson.
ACT highlighted that the nation faces a shortage of 165,000 classrooms, which under current funding trends could take 30 to 55 years to resolve. ACT pointed out that because of this shortfall, many schools are forced to implement double–or triple–shift classes, hold sessions in makeshift classrooms and institutionalize blended learning—undermining the quality of learning.
DepEd data shows a shortage of over 56,000 teachers, but ACT estimates that over 150,000 are needed to reduce class sizes to the global standard of 35. Meanwhile, the PSA’s 2024 FLEMMS survey reveals that around 18 million basic education graduates remain functionally illiterate.
“We have long argued that the gravity of education shortages necessitates a more ambitious and long-term plan. Two years ago, we demanded the national government to hire 25,000 new teachers yearly until 2028 to eradicate teacher shortage, and an additional 5,000 new teachers to cover the yearly increase in enrolment, which totals to a requirement of 30,000 new teachers yearly. We also urged the Marcos-Duterte administration to build 50,000 classrooms yearly, until 2028, to eradicate classroom shortage. But these demands fell on deaf ears, dismissed as unrealistic and impossible, while millions were squandered on confidential and intelligence funds,” Quetua lamented.
ACT teacher leaders and ACT Teachers Party-list representatives also launch Bisita Eskwela in NCR—to monitor on ground realities and gather firsthand accounts of teachers, administrators, and communities.
ACT also raised red flags over reports that DepEd officials are directing teachers and school personnel not to speak to media, and that members of unions and organizations are being cautioned to exercise extreme discretion in discussing school opening issues. ACT warned this is a blatant attempt to manufacture an illusion of readiness and conceal the true gravity of shortages, undermining public accountability and teachers’ right to free expression.
“We can only solve our deep-seated problems by acknowledging them and compelling the government to act decisively. It is high time to double the education budget and end the long-standing state neglect of our education system,” Quetua concluded.#
