Department of Education Undersecretary Anne Sevilla said on Monday, 27 May 2019 that the Department is looking at hiring 33,000 new teachers this year. This announcement came during the launching of Oplan Balik Eskwela (OBE). According to Usec. Sevilla, this is to fill the 23,000 teaching vacancies and 10,000 new teaching posts.
“Kagaya ng school building and classroom, may accumulated din tayo na mga positions na nacreate pero bakante pa hanggang ngayon. We have 23,000, those accumulated vacant positions plus 10,000 this year, so we are expecting about 33,000 new teachers this year.”
Sevilla pointed out the high number of examinees who passed the Licensure Examination for Teachers which she said exceeded the current DepEd vacancies.