President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on Wednesday pledged that efforts to advance the career and promote the welfare of public school teachers will be sustained under his watch.

Marcos made the vow as he led the mass oath-taking of 2,121 newly promoted teachers and principals from Eastern Visayas at the Tacloban City Convention Center in Tacloban City.

Around 1,679 of the 2,121 oath-takers were promoted under the Expanded Career Progression (ECP) System, while 442 were promoted under the non-ECP track.

Twenty-six of them were longest-serving teachers, and two were beneficiaries of the Sa Pinas, Ikaw ang Ma’am at Sir (SPIMS) Program, an initiative that supports the reintegration of licensed overseas Filipino worker teachers into the country’s public school system.

“All these promotions are well-deserved and will provide stability for our educators as they advance in their careers,” Marcos said.

Marcos said the initiatives aim to address the challenges faced by educators, prompting them to seek better opportunities in other fields.

He acknowledged that some of them were even compelled to take on administrative roles for higher compensation.

“For many, many years, our public school teachers have faced many barriers to career growth. Our old system did not have the positions and clear pathways for advancement,” Marcos said.

“In some cases, you even had to step away from the thing that you love the most—teaching—in search of better opportunities in other areas, in other fields. That situation only worsens the shortage of teachers in the country and undermines the country’s overall educational system,” he added.

Marcos stressed that the ECP system paves the way for the creation of new teaching positions to help them advance their careers with clearer direction.

From August 2025 to April 2026, over 65,000 teachers and school heads have been promoted, he noted.

Marcos said the government has carried out several initiatives to promote teachers’ welfare, including the creation of new teaching and non-teaching positions and the release of PHP10,000 teaching supply allowance for teachers for academic year 2025 to 2026.

“All of these changes we are making will strengthen our education system in the long run. These reforms will lift morale and retain our best teachers here in our country. It will also ensure that experience and talent will remain in our schools as we offer them more opportunities and better compensation,” he said.

Marcos emphasized the crucial role of educators in national development, especially amid global developments and geopolitical tensions.

He commended the teachers for “go[ing] beyond academic instruction” to help students shape their own character.

“The world has become more uncertain lately. And so, your role as teachers and administrators of our school [is] more important than ever,” Marcos said. “Always remember that our future rests on the young minds that are in your hands and in your care and that you will help nurture today so that we have a brighter tomorrow.” (PNA)