The School Principal Shortage in the Philippines: Implications and Solutions

The Philippines consistently ranks at the bottom of global education rankings. Improving the education sector is a national priority, as demonstrated by the establishment of EDCOM II, a national commission tasked with overseeing its transformation. EDCOM has recently reported a severe shortage of school principals: more than 24,000 of the approximately 45,000 schools lack a principal. Existing test score data can offer valuable insights into the importance of school principals for student learning. Furthermore, given the government's commitment to addressing this shortage, there may be sufficient interest and support to pilot and eventually scale up various training and recruitment strategies. I am applying for travel funding to Manila, where I plan to meet with members of EDCOM and IPA, two organizations with whom I am already in contact. Leveraging IPA's connections within the Department of Education, I also hope to meet with government officials to discuss potential future research projects, including those that would utilize existing data and incorporate new randomized controlled trials (RCTs).