[ REPUBLIC ACT NO. 12288, September 12, 2025 ]
AN ACT INSTITUTIONALIZING THE CAREER PROGRESSION SYSTEM FOR PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHERS AND SCHOOL LEADERS AND APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFOR
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress assembled:
Section 1. Short Title. - This Act shall be known as the "Career Progression System for Public School Teachers and School Leaders Act".
Section 2. Declaration of Policy. - It is the declared policy of the State to enhance the right of teachers to professional advancement, and ensure that the teaching progression shall attract and retain its rightful share of the best available talents through adequate remuneration and other means of job satisfaction and fulfillment.
To this end, the State shall implement just and equitable measures to provide competency-based promotion and salary increases to expand the welfare and professional growth of public school teachers and school leaders while advancing the right of each Filipino to quality education by ensuring that the system of professional advancement provides incentives for effective teaching and learning for improved learning outcomes.
Section 3. Definition of Terms. - As used in this Act:
(a) Career Progression refers to the professional development and career advancement of teachers and school leaders in terms of, but not limited to, standards-based competencies and skills, position and stature, remuneration and incentives, and qualifications and development goals;
(b) Career Progression Line refers to individual tracks of professional advancement available to teachers and school leaders under the Career Progression System;
(c) Career Progression System refers to a framework of professional development and career advancement along the established career pathways available to teachers and school leaders within the public basic education system;
(d) Current Career Progression refers to the Career Progression Lines available to teachers and school leaders, which are existing and implemented prior to the effectivity of this Act;
(e) Expanded career progression refers to the Career Progression Lines for teachers and school leaders as provided in this Act;
(f) Promotion, for purposes of career progression, refers to the advancement of teachers and school leaders from one position to another with an increase in duties and responsibilities or in the qualifications and competencies, and in the salaries of the incumbent as authorized by law, through application for vacant plantilla positions or reclassification of positions, subject to existing laws, rules, and regulations;
(g) School Administration Career Line refers to the career pathway of school leaders involved in overall school administration, educational management, or instructional supervision;
(h) School leaders, for purposes of career progression, refer to incumbent head teachers, assistant principals, and principals in the public school system who perform managerial or instructional supervisory roles, or both, in their respective levels of governance;
(i) Standards-Based Assessment refers to a competency-based assessment involving appropriate evaluation processes to assess the competencies of teachers and school leaders, which shall be required as a prerequisite to their promotion and increase in salary, as the case may be, as provided in Section 9 hereof;
(j) Teacher refers to any person qualified under the law to practice teaching at the elementary and secondary levels, whether on full - or part-time bases, including industrial arts, vocational, or alternative learning system (ALS) teachers and all other persons performing supervisory and/or administrative functions in all schools in the aforesaid levels; and
(k) Teaching Career Line refers to the career pathway of teachers involved in teaching, including those under the ALS as institutionalized under Republic Act No. 11510 or the "Alternative Learning System Act".
Section 4. Institutionalization of the Career Progression System for Public School Teachers and School Learners. - The Career Progression System for public school teachers and school leaders is hereby institutionalized to promote professional development and career advancement among public school teachers and school leaders, and define the Career Progression Line of teachers and school leaders within the public school system, specifically in the elementary and secondary levels.
Section 5. Expanded Career Progression for Public School Teachers and School Leaders. - The prospects for a career path for public school teachers and school leaders in teaching or school administration are hereby expanded.
The positions from Teacher I to Master Teacher I shall form the bases of the expanded career progression system. Promotions within the base positions shall be non-hierarchical, and shall be based on the principles of merit, fitness, and competence based on the qualifications and the professional standards, pursuant to Section 9 of this Act. Thereafter, a Master Teacher I may opt to pursue a career line in teaching or school administration.
In recognition of prior learning and experience in the teaching profession, entry to any position within the base of the expanded career progression system shall be allowed: Provided, That the qualification standards approved by the Civil Service Commission (CSC) are met and the indicators of the career stages of the professional standards are achieved a affirmed by the Teacher Education Council (TEC).
For this purpose, the CSC, the Department of Education (DepEd), including the TEC, and the Professional Regulation Commission )PRC) shall harmonize the qualification standards for teaching positions in all levels of the public school system, taking into consideration the Standards-Based Assessment as mandated in this Act. The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) shall create the new teaching positions titles of Teacher IV, Teacher V, Teacher VI, Teacher VII, Master Teacher V, Master Teacher VI, and School Principal V, and include the same in the Index of Occupational Services, Occupation Groups, Classes, and Salary Grades.
Section 6. Options of Incumbent Head Teachers. - All incumbent head teachers may apply to retain their positions and Career Progression Line under the Current Career Progression, or otherwise apply for reclassification or retitling of their current position to the appropriate position under the Expanded Career Progression: Provided, That within three (3) years from the effectivity of this Act, all incumbent head teachers shall file the appropriate application to retain their current Career Progression Line under the Current Career Progression, or be retitled under the Expanded Career Progression, as the case may be.
For purposes of this Act, the DepEd shall prepare a list of incumbent head teachers who shall retain their current positions and Career Progression Line under the Current Career Progression. No new item or position under the Current Career Progression for incumbent head teachers shall be created thereafter.
Incumbent head teachers who apply for the reclassification or retitling of their current positions to the appropriate positions under the Expanded Career Progression can no longer revert to the previous Career Progression Line.
All teachers, other than those incumbent head teachers who file the appropriate application to retain their current positions and Career Progression, shall follow the Expanded Career Progression as provided in this Act. They shall undertake a mandatory transition program to be developed by the National Educators Academy of the Philippines (NEAP).
Section 7. Equivalence of Positions. - The positions in the Teaching Career Line and the School Administration Career Line shall be equivalent in all salaries, benefits, and other privileges, as follows:
| Teaching Career Line |
School Administration Career Line |
| Master Teacher II |
School Principal I |
| Master Teacher III |
School Principal II |
| Master Teacher IV |
School Principal III |
| Master Teacher V |
School Principal IV |
| Master Teacher VI |
School Principal V |
Section 8. Non-Diminution in the Basic Salaries and Benefits of Incumbent Teachers and School Leaders. - In no case shall there be a demotion in rank or diminution of salaries, benefits, and other privileges, or both, of incumbent teachers and school leaders granted under existing laws, decrees, and orders, or any contract, agreement, or policy between them and the DepEd upon the implementation of this Act.
Section 9. Promotion of Teachers and School Leaders. - Teachers and school leaders shall be promoted through natural vacancy or reclassification of position based on merit, fitness, and competence anchored on the professional standards.
The evaluation of applicants in the Teaching Career Line shall consider subject area and pedagogical knowledge, and other requirements of the professional standards. In no case shall promotion in the Teaching Career Line be based on arbitrary criteria such as the proportion of learners who achieve curricular expectations.
The evaluation of applicants in the School Administration Line shall consider organizational and managerial effectiveness, in terms of productivity, performance, utility, efficiency, and other requirements of the professional standards.ℒαwρhi৷
The DepEd shall formulate clear guidelines on assessing teachers and school leaders seeking promotion. The assessment process, criteria, and point system, as well as the Standards-Based Assessment of each teacher and school leader, shall be made available to the public to foster equal opportunity, transparency, and accountability.
The DepEd may likewise provide their guidelines for the conduct of Standards-based Assessment by an independent third party.
Section 10. Support Program for Teachers and School Leaders; Continuous Improvement of the Career Progression System; Quality Professional Development. - Teachers and school leaders who do not pass the Standards-Based Assessment for two (2)successive assessments shall be required to undergo a support program. For purposes of this Act, the NEAP shall develop a special free support program for such teachers and school leaders to aid in their development.
Further, to ensure the continuous improvement of the Career Progression System and enhance the right of teachers and school leaders to professional advancement, the TEC shall review, align, and continuously monitor the roles of the NEAP and the Bureau of Human Resource and Organizational Development (BHROD) of the DepEd.
The DepEd shall likewise ensure that the programs of the NEAP and the BHROD are properly aligned with the directions set by the TEC in terms of career stage affirmations and quality assurance of the use of professional standards adopted by the DepEd.ℒαwρhi৷ Such programs shall be coordinated to provide quality professional development programs on teacher education that are responsive to the needs of teachers and school leaders to be effective in teaching or school administration.
Section 11. Appropriations. - The amount necessary for the initial implementation of this Act shall be charged against the current year's appropriation of either the DepEd or the Miscellaneous Personnel Benefits Fund, or both. Thereafter, the amount necessary for its continuous implementation shall be included in the annual General Appropriations Act.
The funding for the promotion of teachers and school leaders shall be prioritized and made available.
SEC.12. Implementing Rules and Regulations. Within ninety (90) days from the effectivity of this Act, the DepEd, the CSC, the PRC, and the DBM, in consultation with the TEC, teachers and school leaders organizations within the DepEd, and other educational stakeholders, shall jointly issue the necessary rules and regulations for its effective implementation. The rules and regulations issued pursuant to this section shall take effect thirty (30) days after its publication in a newspaper of general circulation.
Section 13. Separability Clause. - If any provision or part of this Act is declared invalid or unconstitutional, the remaining provisions or parts not affected shall remain in full force and effect.
Section 14. Repealing Clause. - All other laws, executive orders, presidential decrees, administrative orders, rules and regulations, issuances, or parts thereof inconsistent with or contrary to the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed or amended accordingly.
Section 15. Effectivity. - Notwithstanding the non-issuance of the implementing rules and regulations, this Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its publication in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation.
Approved,
(SGD.) FRANCIS "CHIZ" G. ESCUDERO
President of the Senate |
(SGD.) FERDINAND MARTIN G. ROMUALDEZ
Speaker of the House of Representatives |
This Act, which is a consolidation of House Bill No. 10270 and Senate Bill No. 3000, was passed by the House of Representatives and the Senate of the Philippines on June 11, 2025.
(SGD.) RENATO N. BANTUG, JR.
Secretary of the Senate |
(SGD.) REGINALD S. VELASCO
Secretary General House of Representatives |
Approved: SEP 12 2025
(SGD.) FERDINAND ROMUALDEZ MARCOS JR.
President of the Philippines
The Lawphil Project - Arellano Law Foundation
