MANILA, PHILIPPINES [TAC] – Is local hiring really working for the Philippines?
Nearly, three decades after the Localization Law (Republic Act 8190) took effect, public schools across the Philippines continue to struggle with a shortage of teachers, leaving many classrooms overcrowded and teachers overburdened.
A recent study by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) titled, “Review of the Localization Law and Its Effect on the Hiring of Teachers“, found that the law, enacted to prioritize hiring of teachers from the same community, has produced both benefits and setbacks.
While it has strengthened school–community ties and improved teacher retention, the study revealed that it has not fully addressed long-standing recruitment gaps. The mismatches between teacher qualifications and school needs, inefficient recruitment processes, and weak support systems for educators continue to hinder the overall effectiveness of the law.
Enacted in 1996, the Localization Law aimed to expedite the hiring process and make it more inclusive by prioritizing teachers who reside in the same city or municipality as the school. The idea was straightforward: teachers familiar with the local culture, language, and community would be more effective in the classroom and less likely to leave.
“The Localization Law has cultivated a stronger sense of community among teachers, students and families, which serves as an essential component of a supportive educational environment. This community bond boosts teacher performance and encourages local involvement in education, promoting a more holistic approach to teaching and learning,” the study noted.
But despite these positive results, researchers found that many schools still experience significant hiring delays and vacant teaching positions citing “bureaucratic hold-ups that hinder teacher deployment, political meddling in hiring decisions, and the restricted pool of eligible candidates in some regions”.
The study also acknowledged that a rigid interpretation of residency rules has unintentionally narrowed the hiring pool and slowed the recruitment process. While prioritizing local applicants promotes cultural fit, it can also create mismatches in teacher specialization and exclude qualified teachers from nearby areas willing to serve where they are most needed.
In some cases, teachers hired under the law were assigned to teach subjects outside their expertise simply because no local applicants met the required specialization. This mismatch, according to the study, risks undermining the quality of instruction, especially in science and mathematics. Compounding the problem are changes from later reforms, such as the K–12 program, which shifted hiring priorities and blurred the original intent of localization.
The authors stressed that the benefits of localization can only be sustained if the law’s implementing rules and regulations are updated to match with current education policies. They urged the Department of Education (DepEd) to clarify who qualifies as a local resident and to strengthen the rules on how teachers are prioritized for hiring.
The authors likewise encouraged localized incentive programs such as scholarships and hardship pay, to attract teachers to underserved schools, particularly in geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas and “Last Mile Schools”.
“Ultimately, strengthening recruitment systems, improving teacher well-being, and ensuring equitable access to quality education are critical to building a more inclusive, responsive, and resilient education sector,” the authors said.
Vocational scholarship
Meanwhile, another PIDS study found out that while TESDA’s (Technical Education and Skills Development Authority) scholarship programs improve graduates’ chances of finding jobs, the country’s poorest are increasingly being left behind.
The study titled “Assessing the Effectiveness of TESDA Scholarship Programs in Targeting the Poor”, authored by Dr. Maribel Daño of De La Salle University, found a decline in the share of poor and “disadvantaged scholars” between 2018 and 2022.
This group includes individuals from low-income or vulnerable households—such as out-of-school youth, informal workers, and the unemployed—who are meant to be prioritized under TESDA’s poverty-targeting initiatives. Regional data also indicated that funds were not consistently directed to the poorest areas.
“The 2022 regional distribution of scholarship budgets does not necessarily align with regions with high poverty incidence, where most disadvantaged scholars are located,” Daño observed, limiting the program’s reach among those who need it most.The study warned that this pattern suggests a gradual exclusion of the poor—those who should be the primary beneficiaries of these scholarships.
“Budget allocation could use a scorecard that gives higher weights to regions with elevated poverty rates, in addition to weights for other criteria such as alignment with priority sectors,” Daño added.
Despite these equity issues, TESDA’s scholarship programs remain a crucial pathway for Filipinos seeking better livelihoods as it help graduates pass assessments, earn certifications, and secure employment.
“The scholarship has a positive effect on securing employment after one year, though not immediately after training…This delay could be related to demand factors, as scholars are often located in lower-income cities and municipalities,” Daño explained.
However, employment outcomes were not always aligned with the skills acquired during training. Many graduates claimed that their training was not directly related to the jobs they eventually found.
“There is a significant negative association that the programs are not that useful in terms of the certification being required with the graduates jobs,” the author said.
As such she called for stronger coordination between TESDA, industries, and local governments to ensure training courses respond to real labor market demands.
