ALS Teacher: Salary Grade, Requirements and Hiring (2026)

2026年11月12日

For Filipino teachers

An ALS teacher is a DepEd-employed teacher who delivers the Alternative Learning System to out-of-school children in special cases and adults; ALS Teacher I posts are filled through DepEd’s regular Teacher I hiring, and Teacher I is Salary Grade 11, which pays PHP 31,705 a month at Step 1 from January 1, 2026 under the DBM’s third-tranche salary schedule. Promotion follows the same classroom teaching career line as other public school teachers.

This guide is for ALS Teachers, Learning Facilitators and public school teachers thinking of moving into ALS. It covers the role as the ALS Act defines it, the 2026 salary grades from the official DBM table, requirements and hiring steps from DepEd division memoranda we opened, and what an ALS teacher can build next.

In this article

ALS teacher meaning: three kinds of people who teach ALS
What an ALS teacher does
ALS teacher salary grade and 2026 salary
ALS teacher requirements
ALS teacher hiring, step by step
Promotion: Teacher II to Teacher VII and Master Teacher
Where ALS teachers go next
Leading a school for children who left school
Questions and answers

ALS teacher meaning: three kinds of people who teach ALS

A Filipino teacher sits at a low table with five children of mixed ages who are working in notebooks in a simple, airy classroom with open windows (illustrative image) — ALS learning sessions are small and mixed: each learner starts from where they left off. (Illustrative image)

In everyday speech, “ALS teacher” means anyone who teaches in the Alternative Learning System. In law it is narrower: Republic Act No. 11510, the ALS Act of 2020, names three groups who deliver ALS, hired and paid in different ways.

Title in RA 11510	Definition in the Act (Section 4)	Who engages and pays them
ALS Teacher	DepEd-employed teachers who implement the ALS programs	DepEd, in teaching positions with salary grades (Section 11)
Community ALS Implementor	Persons engaged by DepEd or a local government unit to deliver ALS programs	DepEd or the LGU; Local School Boards may use the Special Education Fund to hire more (Section 18)
Learning Facilitator	Teachers financed by the private sector who implement ALS programs	NGOs, civil society organizations or individuals

Section 11 also sets a direction for staffing: DepEd may engage Community ALS Implementors to fill gaps, but three years after the Act took effect, DepEd shall hire only ALS Teachers.

If you want to know what the ALS programs are and who can enroll, read our guide to the Alternative Learning System in the Philippines. This article stays with the teacher.

What an ALS teacher does

The Act describes the work across several sections.

Finding learners

Local School Boards must ensure community literacy mapping to identify prospective learners (Section 17).

Teaching in many modes

Modular, online or mobile, face-to-face, radio or TV, blended, and workshops or internships (Section 8).

Running a Community Learning Center

At least one CLC in every municipality and city, open seven days a week, with space for childcare (Section 13).

Preparing learners for A&E

A&E passers move on to junior or senior high school, TESDA training or higher education (Section 10).

All DepEd ALS programs are free, and ALS Teachers who collect fees can be held administratively liable (Section 20). ALS Teachers and Community ALS Implementors receive transportation and teaching aid allowances on top of any hardship and cash allowances, under DepEd guidelines (Section 22). The Act also guarantees ALS Teachers the same fellowships, scholarships and training opportunities given to regular teachers (Section 12).

ALS teacher salary grade and 2026 salary

RA 11510 tells DepEd, with the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) and the Civil Service Commission (CSC), to create ALS teaching positions and allocate salary grades. In practice, DepEd fills ALS posts as Teacher I items: the Schools Division of Dasmariñas, for example, released a 2026 registry of qualified applicants for “Senior High School and Alternative Learning System Teacher I” positions under its regular Teacher I call.

The rates below are from Annex A of DBM National Budget Circular No. 601 (January 22, 2026), the third tranche of the salary schedule under Executive Order No. 64, s. 2024, effective January 1, 2026. Salary grades are from DepEd division memoranda listed in the sources.

Position	Salary grade	Monthly, Step 1 (2026)	Monthly, Step 8 (2026)
Teacher I (entry level, including ALS Teacher I)	SG 11	PHP 31,705	PHP 33,611
Teacher II	SG 12	PHP 33,947	PHP 35,850
Teacher III	SG 13	PHP 36,125	PHP 38,241
Teacher IV	SG 14	PHP 38,764	PHP 41,503
Master Teacher I	SG 18	PHP 53,818	PHP 57,842

Basic monthly salary only, before deductions and without allowances. Some division memoranda issued in early 2026 still show PHP 30,024 for Teacher I: that was the rate before the third tranche took effect. Executive Order No. 64 sets four tranches, from 2024 to 2027, so check the DBM for the 2027 table when it is issued.

What this table does not cover. The DBM circular excludes people engaged through job orders or contracts of service. Community ALS Implementors and privately funded Learning Facilitators are paid on the terms of whoever engages them; under Section 14 of the Act, DepEd sets service standards for private providers, including remuneration. Ask for the rate in writing.

ALS teacher requirements

Because ALS Teacher I posts are Teacher I items, the starting point is the CSC qualification standard for Teacher I. Division memoranda we opened from Zamboanga del Norte and Muntinlupa reproduce it in the same terms.

Education: a bachelor’s degree in Education, or a bachelor’s degree in a relevant subject or learning area with at least 18 professional units in Education.
Eligibility: RA 1080, as amended (Teacher). Applicants submit a valid PRC licence or ID and their certificate of eligibility or rating.
Experience and training: none required for Teacher I. Senior high school technical-vocational posts add a National Certificate (NC) II.
Documents: a letter of intent, the Personal Data Sheet (CSC Form 212) with Work Experience Sheet, transcript and diploma, training and employment certificates, and an omnibus sworn statement.

Each division may add its own checklist, so read the qualification enclosure of the call you apply under.

ALS teacher hiring, step by step

Divisions run Teacher I hiring under DepEd Order No. 7, s. 2023, as amended by DepEd Order No. 21, s. 2024. The 2026 memoranda we read follow this order.

Watch your division’s call. Calls for Teacher I applications for the next school year are posted on division websites and school bulletin boards. In the divisions we checked, the 2026 calls opened in January.
Register and apply. Some divisions issue an application number online (Zamboanga del Norte uses a Division Unique Application Number) before you submit folders to the district.
Initial evaluation. A committee checks education, training and eligibility against the qualification standard.
Comparative assessment. Qualified applicants are scored under the criteria and point system for Teacher I.
Registry of Qualified Applicants. Results are published as a CAR-RQA. Dasmariñas states its registry is valid only for school year 2026–2027.
Appointment. Positions are filled from the registry as items are created or vacated.

Practice differs between divisions, so ask your division’s personnel unit how ALS posts appear in its call.

Promotion: Teacher II to Teacher VII and Master Teacher

Section 11 of the Act entitles ALS Teachers to promotion under CSC qualification standards, with equal opportunities in promotion and pay. Under the Expanded Career Progression System (DepEd Order No. 24, s. 2025, amended by DepEd Order No. 34, s. 2025), a 2026 Angeles City memorandum lists the classroom teaching career line as Teacher II (SG 12) through Teacher VII (SG 17), then Master Teacher I (SG 18) to Master Teacher V (SG 22). School Principal II to IV are SG 20 to 22.

ALS teachers are on that ladder. A February 2026 Zamboanga del Norte memorandum on approved reclassified items lists ALS teachers among appointees to Teacher IV and Teacher VI items.

Want to build a learning place of your own?

ALS teachers know the young people whom school lost. NIJIN Inc. is looking for one person to start NIJIN Academy Philippines and lead it as business head and principal. You can start on a service contract, alongside your current work. Investment is optional.

See the Country Head role in the Philippines

Where ALS teachers go next

A Filipino woman in her thirties plans a new learning center at a desk by the window of a small, empty rented room (illustrative image) — Some teachers start by planning a small learning room of their own, often in the evenings. (Illustrative image)

Literacy mapping and teaching mixed groups build skills few classroom teachers get: finding learners nobody is counting and earning families’ trust. Those skills open more than one path.

Path	What it involves	Read more
Stay and move up	Reclassification through Teacher II–VII and Master Teacher; school head positions	How to become a school principal in the Philippines
Work with a private ALS provider	Learning Facilitator roles at NGOs and recognized providers	Where private founders fit in ALS
Earn on the side, with a permit	Tutoring outside your learners, materials, weekend work	Side hustle for teachers in the Philippines
Open a learning center	Registering a business and asking DepEd what you may offer	How to start a learning center in the Philippines
Lead a school as founder	Starting and running a school for children who do not fit school	The next section

Leading a school for children who left school

Three Filipino professionals in smart casual clothes discuss plans around a table with notebooks and a laptop in a small, bright office (illustrative image) — A founder’s first team is small: people who can teach, people who can run things, and a plan they all believe in. (Illustrative image)

ALS gives young people and adults a second route to a certificate. A school that children who drifted away actually want to attend is a different problem, and it is the one NIJIN works on in Japan.

NIJIN Academy is an alternative school for elementary and junior high school students who do not fit conventional school. It opened in September 2023, and now runs through to high school age. Children join from home through a metaverse campus, choose from about 100 live online classes a month, and can also attend physical classrooms. Classes are small and built on conversation.

1,000+children enrolled since September 2023 (cumulative)

52physical classrooms across Japan

About 100live online classes a month

97%attendance recognition among families who applied

Figures published by NIJIN. “Attendance recognition” means the child’s registered school counts learning at NIJIN Academy as attendance.

NIJIN is now looking for a Country Head for the Philippines: one person who starts NIJIN Academy Philippines and leads it as both business head and principal. Teaching experience is not required; leadership, management, business ability and the skills of a principal are what count. English alone is fine. This is not a job as an ALS teacher or an online teacher, and it is not a franchise.

You can start on a service contract, even as a side job alongside your current work, and decide later whether to become a co-owner. Investment is optional.

The compensation guide. As a guide, the Country Head receives 10% of revenue excluding tax, the same on a service contract or as a co-owner. Revenue of JPY 100 million gives JPY 10 million; JPY 200 million gives JPY 20 million; JPY 500 million or more gives JPY 50 million (the cap). These examples only show the calculation. They are not a forecast or a promise of income, and with no revenue this formula pays nothing. Anyone you ask to do part of the role is paid out of your 10%. Other terms are discussed in the interview.

If you become a co-owner. One example is a local company in which you hold 20% and NIJIN holds 80%, with an investment guide of JPY 1 to 2 million from you and JPY 4 to 8 million from NIJIN. In the Philippines, though, Article XIV, Section 4(2) of the 1987 Constitution provides that educational institutions, other than those established by religious groups and mission boards, be owned solely by Filipino citizens or by corporations at least 60% of whose capital is owned by Filipino citizens, with control and administration vested in Filipino citizens. So 20% and 80% are only an example: the actual structure would be decided in the interview and with legal professionals, to comply with Philippine law.

A note for ALS teachers in DepEd service: outside work is governed by RA 6713 and civil service rules, and private schools are supervised by DepEd. Ask your division office and a lawyer what you could do while still employed (see the permit steps in our side hustle guide). The interview is a good place to work out timing.

Questions and answers

What is the ALS teacher salary in 2026?

An ALS Teacher I is at Salary Grade 11, which from January 1, 2026 pays PHP 31,705 a month at Step 1 and PHP 33,611 at Step 8 (DBM National Budget Circular No. 601). ALS Act allowances are separate.

What is the ALS teacher 1 salary grade?

Salary Grade 11, the same as Teacher I in elementary and junior high school. Teacher II is SG 12 and Teacher III is SG 13.

What are the ALS teacher requirements?

The CSC standard for Teacher I: a bachelor’s degree in Education, or a relevant bachelor’s degree with at least 18 professional units in Education, and RA 1080 (Teacher) eligibility. No experience or training is required at entry level. Check your division’s call for its own checklist.

When does DepEd do ALS teacher hiring?

ALS Teacher I posts are filled through each division’s Teacher I recruitment under DepEd Order No. 7, s. 2023. In 2026, several divisions opened their calls in January for school year 2026–2027. Watch your Schools Division Office website.

What is the difference between an ALS Teacher and a Learning Facilitator?

Under RA 11510, an ALS Teacher is employed by DepEd. A Learning Facilitator is a teacher financed by the private sector, such as an NGO, a civil society organization or an individual. Community ALS Implementors are engaged by DepEd or an LGU.

Is NIJIN hiring ALS teachers or online teachers in the Philippines?

No. In the Philippines, NIJIN is recruiting a Country Head: one person to start and lead NIJIN Academy Philippines. NIJIN does not employ ALS teachers.

Is the Country Head a job or a business?

It is closer to founding a business. You lead the school as its business head and principal, and the compensation guide is 10% of revenue, not a salary. Nothing is guaranteed, and other terms are discussed in the interview.

Build a school for children who left school

NIJIN is looking for one person to start and lead NIJIN Academy Philippines. You can start on a service contract, even alongside your current work. Investment is optional. Teaching experience is not required.

See the Country Head role in the Philippines