10,000 teaching positions still vacant in BARMM– official

COTABATO CITY —At least 10,000 teaching positions across the Bangsamoro region need to be filled, while some 30,000 teachers have been serving for years, allegedly without formal appointment papers from the Ministry of Basic, Higher, and Technical Education, a member of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) revealed.

Member of Parliament Baintan Ampatuan dropped the “bombshell” last week during the joint hearing of the BTA committees on education and budget, which sought to examine the challenges affecting the development of the education sector in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).

READ: DepEd holds orientations on learning systems reform in BARMM

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She disclosed that 10,061 teaching positions have remained unfilled across the region, leaving Bangsamoro learners struggling behind their counterparts in other regions.

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“(Also) as we speak, there are more than 30,000 teachers who have been teaching for several years but still do not have appointment papers from the MBHTE,” Ampatuan said.

She noted that while the teachers are included on the ministry’s master list and receive their salaries, many remain uncertain about their employment status due to a lack of appointment papers.

The hearing comes amid continuing scrutiny of the region’s education sector.

Former Education Minister Mohagher Iqbal was relieved from his post in May following a Commission on Audit (COA) report that flagged at least P2 billion in allegedly questionable transactions involving educational kits for learners and teachers.

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READ: BARMM education minister sacked

Iqbal repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and maintained that no irregularities occurred during his tenure since the establishment of the Bangsamoro region in 2019.

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Interim Chief Minister Abdulraof Macacua, who removed Iqbal from MBHTE, had assumed the education minister portfolio.

‘Valid appointments’

Iqbal, also a Bangsamoro Parliament member, rejected claims that at least 30,000 teachers in the BARMM have no appointment papers.

In a statement, he said his fellow lawmakers’ interpretation was “incorrect,“ stressing that the teachers still possess “valid appointment documents” even if these were issued during the defunct Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), which the BARMM replaced.

“Their appointments remain valid when the new regional autonomous government was established (in 2019), while the MBHTE continues the processing and conversion of their documents to BARMM,” Iqbal said in Maguindanaoan language.

He emphasized that it is inaccurate to conclude that the teachers have no appointment papers simply because their ARMM-issued documents are still undergoing transition and conversion processes under the BARMM government.

Poor education quality

Several lawmakers expressed frustration over the poor performance of MBTHE officials in improving the region’s education quality.

Member of Parliament Zulficar Bayam noted that BARMM continues to lag behind other regions in educational performance, describing the situation as a “literacy crisis.”

“This is alarming. We have a huge number of learners who cannot read and write,” Bayam said, questioning the ministry’s strategies to address learning deficiencies in the region.

The lawmakers also scrutinized MBHTE officials over other long-standing concerns, including delayed or non-remittance of Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) premiums, inadequate school facilities, the situation of Indigenous Peoples learners, school-less villages, and delayed salaries of teaching and non-teaching personnel.

During the hearing, legislators also flagged an apparent payroll irregularity involving a teaching position that allegedly carried two names under a single plantilla or regular staff item.

Monette Estacio-Kari, MBHTE administrative officer, was unable to provide a definitive explanation on the matter.

She, however, acknowledged that some teachers in the Basilan Schools Division possess plantilla positions but remain excluded from the payroll, leaving them unpaid.

The MBHTE was allocated a budget of P26.49 billion in 2026.

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Lawmakers said the ministry would be allowed to clarify the issues raised during subsequent public hearings./coa