MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Education (DepEd) and Microsoft are deepening their collaboration to help transform teaching and learning across the Philippines and strengthen the country’s position as a frontier education economy in the AI era. Building on a longstanding relationship in Philippine classrooms, the renewed partnership is geared toward the critical imperatives of the future — anchored in DepEd’s five-point education agenda and its vision for a modern, resilient, and globally competitive education system that equips every teacher and learner to thrive in an AI-enabled future.
As a defining commitment, Microsoft will provide 1 million Filipino public school teachers access to Microsoft Copilot. Copilot will serve as an accelerator of the outcomes DepEd is pursuing for educators and learners — helping teachers plan lessons, personalize learning, reduce administrative load, and use timely insights to provide more responsive support, creating more time and capacity for meaningful instruction and improved student learning.
“Our learners deserve an education system that is ready for the future. Through our partnership with Microsoft, we are bringing AI tools to one million Filipino teachers to help them save time, engage learners better, and strengthen teaching in the classroom. More importantly, this partnership will help us support learning recovery and prepare every Filipino child for an AI-driven world,” said Education Secretary Sonny Angara.
Scaling What Works in the Classroom
Years of collaboration across foundational literacy, teacher development, and digital learning have established a strong base for the next phase of this partnership. Microsoft Copilot will help connect and extend that work by enabling educators to translate new skills, classroom data, and professional judgment into more effective teaching and more responsive support for learners. Two initiatives already underway show how these capabilities and practices can be applied at scale.
Nationwide AI skilling for teachers
Earlier in 2026, ahead of the coming school year, DepEd and Microsoft rolled out a nationwide AI skilling program to help teachers use Microsoft Copilot Chat — Microsoft’s secure, AI-powered assistant — in practical, responsible ways. Demand from educators was immediate: the flagship training event drew nearly 75,000 live attendees, while registrations reached more than 175,000 educators. The strong response led DepEd’s National Educators’ Academy of the Philippines (NEAP) to extend the program through a new phase of asynchronous training for registered participants.
Through hands-on sessions grounded in real classroom scenarios, teachers learn to draft communications, build curriculum-aligned lesson plans and assessments, and summarize student progress more efficiently — while applying safeguards and responsible-use practices so that AI serves as a teaching aid, not a substitute for professional judgment.
Data-driven literacy support with Microsoft Reading Progress
As part of DepEd’s Academic Recovery and Accessible Learning (ARAL) Program, Microsoft’s Reading Progress and Reading Coach are helping teachers identify reading gaps earlier and respond faster — complementing formal assessments such as Phil-IRI with more frequent oral reading practice, while surfacing insights on word recognition, omissions, mispronunciations, and reading pace that can guide immediate intervention.
In just 21 weeks, the pilot program reached 3,431 students across eight regions, analyzed 8,381 reading submissions, and trained over 2,100 teachers, with overall teacher satisfaction at 91.5 percent. Of the students re-assessed during the period, 780 demonstrated reading progress — 319 moved up between Phil-IRI bands, while another 461 improved within their existing band, a view of within-band gains that helps teachers intervene within the same week rather than waiting for the next assessment cycle. These results were recognized during the DepEd–Microsoft AI-Powered Learning Initiative Recognition Day, where more than 100 teachers and over 25 schools were acknowledged.
“Technology at its best serves a clear purpose. It helps us see more, respond faster, and use our time more wisely. When technology helps reduce administrative burden, it gives teachers more space to guide, encourage, and intervene in ways that are thoughtful and human,” said Atty, Marcelino Veloso III, Undersecretary for Information and Communications Technology (ICT).
Building on DepEd’s Digital Foundations
The renewed partnership builds on DepEd’s ongoing digitalization agenda, including sustained investments in school internet connectivity, ICT equipment, smart classrooms, and laptops and other devices for teachers. Microsoft Copilot, nationwide AI skilling, and data-driven learning tools add a new layer of capability to these foundations — helping educators turn stronger connectivity, digital resources, and timely insights into more effective teaching and better learning experiences. In this way, AI adoption reinforces the Department’s continuing investments in digital readiness while supporting its five-point education agenda:
- Enabling learning environment. Building on stronger digital foundations, the partnership broadens access to AI-assisted teaching and supports more responsive, engaging, and conducive learning environments.
- Welfare of teachers. Microsoft Copilot for public school teachers reduces administrative load and frees time for instruction, while nationwide AI skilling through Copilot Chat builds educators’ capability, confidence, and professional growth.
- Efficient learning delivery. AI-assisted lesson planning, curriculum-aligned assessments, and data-driven literacy support through Reading Progress and Reading Coach help teachers deliver — and adjust — effective instruction across every learning setting.
- Future-ready workforce. By equipping teachers and learners with AI fluency and stronger foundational literacy, the partnership prepares Filipino learners with the skills needed to compete and thrive in an AI-driven world.
- Addressing emerging issues. A shared emphasis on responsible use and safeguards, alignment with DepEd’s Academic Recovery and Accessible Learning (ARAL) Program, and secure, scalable AI adoption position the system to respond to both ongoing challenges such as learning recovery and new ones as they arise.
Setting a New Benchmark for Education
Through this renewed, long-term commitment, DepEd and Microsoft aim to build a more modern, resilient, and future-ready education system — setting a new benchmark not only for the Philippines, but for education across the region.
“At Microsoft, our mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. In the Philippines, there is no more important place to bring that mission to life than in education. By working with DepEd to put Microsoft Copilot in the hands of one million public school teachers, we have an opportunity to help educators save time, strengthen learning, and prepare young Filipinos for a future where AI will be part of every industry and every career. We are grateful for DepEd’s continued trust and committed to helping build an education system where every teacher and learner can thrive in the AI era,” said Mayank Wadhwa, President, Microsoft ASEAN.
