TL;DR: A Teacher-in-Charge (TIC) is a teacher designated to head a public school that has no principal item. The designation comes from DepEd Order No. 42, s. 2007, whose Basic Policies state that the Schools Division Superintendent shall designate Teachers-In-Charge in schools without Principal items, and that a TIC must have at least three years of teaching experience and pass a Division Office screening. It is a designation, not an appointment, so the teacher keeps their teaching item and salary grade. The reason so many small schools have one is arithmetic: under DepEd Order No. 97, s. 2011, a Principal I item is allocated to a complete elementary or secondary school with at least nine teachers, and a Head Teacher I item at six.
If you have just been handed a designation order, or you are a parent wondering why your child's school has a "TIC" rather than a principal, the confusion is understandable. The title appears on signboards, memos and school forms, but it is not a rank you get appointed to. This guide covers what the designation is, which issuance creates it, why small schools end up with one, and how the role counts when the teacher later applies for a school head position.
What a Teacher-in-Charge Is
DepEd Order No. 42, s. 2007, "The Revised Guidelines on Selection, Promotion and Designation of School Heads," is the issuance to read. Item 4 of its Basic Policies is short and clear: the Schools Division Superintendent shall designate Teachers-In-Charge in schools without Principal items. It adds the entry requirement in the next sentence, which is that to become a Teacher-In-Charge one must have at least three years teaching experience and undergo a screening process conducted by the Division Office.
That is the whole legal basis for the role. Everything else a TIC does flows from the general definition of a school head. The same order, drawing on the Implementing Rules of Republic Act No. 9155, the Governance of Basic Education Act of 2001, defines a school head as the person responsible for the administrative and instructional supervision of the school or cluster of schools, and expects three leadership dimensions of them: educational leadership, people leadership and strategic leadership.
A more recent issuance settles the status question directly. DepEd Order No. 002, s. 2024, "Immediate Removal of Administrative Tasks of Public School Teachers," defines school heads as the persons responsible for administrative and instructional supervision under RA 9155, and adds that for the purpose of that policy a duly designated Teacher-in-Charge is considered a school head. That matters in practice, because the same order makes school heads and non-teaching personnel solely responsible for the administrative tasks it lifts off classroom teachers.
Disclaimer: this is an explainer, not division guidance. Duties attached to a specific designation come from the designation order itself and from your Schools Division Office. Confirm anything operational with them before acting on it.
Why the School Has No Principal in the First Place
This is the part most explanations skip, and it is the actual answer to the question people are asking. School head items are allocated by formula, not by request.
DepEd Order No. 97, s. 2011, the Revised Guidelines on the Allocation and Reclassification of School Head Positions, sets the allocation rules:
| Item | Allocation rule under DO 97, s. 2011 |
|---|---|
| Head Teacher I | One position per school with at least 6 teachers |
| Head Teacher I (cluster) | One position in a cluster of at least 3 schools with an aggregate of at least 6 teachers |
| Principal I | One position for every complete elementary or secondary school with at least 9 teachers |
| Principal I (cluster) | One position for every cluster of at least 3 schools with an aggregate of at least 9 teachers |
| Additional Head Teacher | Schools with at least 60 teachers; integrated schools with at least 30 teachers |
The order also allows a cluster of at least three neighbouring schools within a school district, including primary and multigrade schools, where no other school heads are available to handle them. In far-flung areas, the Schools Division Superintendent may determine that a cluster is entitled to one Head Teacher position.
Read those thresholds against the reality of a two-teacher or four-teacher barangay school and the picture resolves. There is no item to fill, so the division designates one of the teachers to run the place. That is the TIC.
Designation Versus Appointment
The distinction matters more than the job title does, because it determines pay, tenure and what happens if the teacher transfers.
A designation assigns duties. It does not change the plantilla item the teacher occupies, and it can be withdrawn by the issuing authority. An appointment places a person in a position. DO 97, s. 2011 defines reclassification as the change in position title requiring the issuance of an appointment with a corresponding increase in rank and salary, which is precisely what a designation does not deliver.
So a Teacher-in-Charge carries the salary grade of whatever teaching item they hold. There is no separate TIC salary grade to look up, and any table circulating with one has invented it. For scale, DepEd Order No. 034, s. 2025 lists School Principal I to IV at Salary Grades 19 to 22 and Teacher I to VII at Salary Grades 11 to 17 under the Expanded Career Progression System. Our DepEd salary grade explainer covers how the schedule itself works.
How TIC Service Counts Later
Time served as a TIC is not wasted, and both of the governing orders say so explicitly.
DepEd Order No. 42, s. 2007 requires applicants to the Principal I position to have an experience of at least five years in the aggregate as Head Teacher, Teacher-In-Charge, Master Teacher and Teacher III, plus a qualifying test evaluating the three leadership dimensions, developed by NEAP in coordination with NETRC. DepEd Order No. 97, s. 2011 adds that the required experience of an applicant must be relevant to the position, such as having been designated as a Teacher-In-Charge who served at least one year in public schools.
There is a newer wrinkle. DepEd Order No. 034, s. 2025, the supplemental guidelines to the Expanded Career Progression System under DO 024, s. 2025, provides that teachers designated as Teacher-in-Charge or Assistant School Head Designate who apply for higher teaching positions, whether through natural vacancy or reclassification, shall undergo assessment in both Classroom-Observable Indicators and Non-Classroom-Observable Indicators. The classroom-observable part uses the Classroom Observation Tool for Recruitment, Selection and Placement; the non-classroom part is assessed through portfolio annotations and a Behavioral Events Interview.
In plain terms: running a school does not exempt you from being observed teaching when you apply for a teaching-line promotion. Plan your means of verification accordingly. Our guides on DepEd teacher ranking and promotion and on reclassification go into the mechanics, and the MOV guide covers documentation.
Checks Before You Rely on Anything You Read
- Ask for the designation order in writing. The authority to designate sits with the Schools Division Superintendent under DO 42, s. 2007. A verbal instruction is not the same thing.
- Read the order for the scope of duties. DO 42 sets the designation and the entry requirement; the specific duties, authority and accountability come from the order your division issues.
- Check dates on anything else you find. Career progression for teachers and school heads was restructured by Executive Order No. 174, s. 2022 and DepEd Order No. 024, s. 2025, then supplemented by DO 034, s. 2025. Material written before 2025 describes a different ladder.
- Do not assume a pay change. Designation is not reclassification. If you are being asked to perform school head duties and expect a change in rank, the route is a vacancy or a reclassification under DO 97, s. 2011, not the designation itself.
- Route questions through the division. The Schools Division Office is the office that screens, designates and supervises. The Schools Division Superintendent signs.
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Sources
- DepEd Order No. 42, s. 2007 - The Revised Guidelines on Selection, Promotion and Designation of School Heads
- DepEd Order No. 97, s. 2011 - Revised Guidelines on the Allocation and Reclassification of School Head Positions
- DepEd Order No. 034, s. 2025 - Supplemental Guidelines on the Expanded Career Progression System (PDF)
- DepEd Order No. 002, s. 2024 - Immediate Removal of Administrative Tasks of Public School Teachers (PDF)
- Republic Act No. 9155 - Governance of Basic Education Act of 2001
- SchoolFinderPH - DepEd Teacher Ranking and Promotion
- SchoolFinderPH - Reclassification in DepEd
- SchoolFinderPH - Schools Division Office Explained
