In-Service Training for Teachers, explained without the acronym soup: who runs it, what the current DepEd order says, how it differs from your PRC CPD units, and where AI training now fits into it.
INSET is one of those terms everyone in a Philippine public school uses and almost nobody defines. If you are new to teaching, newly transferred, or trying to work out whether a training you found online will count for anything, here is the plain version.
INSET is In-Service Training for Teachers. It is DepEd's professional development intervention for teachers and school leaders already in service, organized at school or division level. Guidelines are issued through the National Educators Academy of the Philippines (NEAP), DepEd's training arm.
NEAP's current operating framework comes from DepEd Order No. 011, s. 2019, the NEAP Transformation, which set out to make professional development programmatic, link it to career progression, and use training resources more accountably.
There is no fixed national INSET month, and this is the single most common thing people get wrong.
INSET is scheduled per school year under the DepEd school calendar order, currently DepEd Order No. 012, s. 2025, the Multi-Year Implementing Guidelines on the School Calendar and Activities, signed 15 April 2025. That order directs teachers to engage in professional development including Learning Action Cells and school-based INSET aligned with their individual development plans.
From there it is cascaded regionally, so actual dates and length vary by region and school year. Two real examples:
Recent runs have been three to five days. Your division memorandum is the authoritative source for your dates, not a national calendar and not a shared infographic.
These get conflated constantly, and they are two separate systems with two separate authorities.
| INSET | CPD | |
|---|---|---|
| Who requires it | DepEd, as your employer | PRC, for your professional license |
| Legal basis | School calendar order, currently DO 012, s. 2025 | RA 10912, the CPD Act of 2016 |
| Purpose | School and division level professional development | Renewal of your Professional Identification Card |
| Who decides credit | Your school or division | PRC, through accredited providers, per event |
| Cycle | Per school year | Every three years, with your PIC renewal |
A session can count for one, both, or neither. Attending INSET does not automatically earn CPD units, and earning CPD units does not automatically satisfy INSET.
CPD is mandatory under RA 10912 for renewing your Professional Identification Card. But PRC has extended acceptance of the CPD Undertaking until 31 December 2026 under Resolution No. 2200, s. 2026, announced 23 June 2026. That means a licensed teacher can currently renew by signing an undertaking to complete the units in the next compliance period. Read it on prc.gov.ph.
Three things to hold onto:
On the unit count: figures circulating online for professional teachers are widely repeated but we could not confirm them against a primary PRC document, so check the current PRC CPD matrix for the requirement that applies to your renewal date rather than trusting a number from a blog.
NEAP is a PRC-accredited CPD provider, accreditation PTR-2020-046, valid until 22 December 2026, covering Professional Teachers among other professions, and its listed offerings are generally free registration. For most public school teachers, NEAP is the cheapest legitimate route to units.
AI is now a live part of that. DepEd issued DepEd Order No. 003, s. 2026 on AI in basic education, launched Project AGAP.AI in January 2026, and has partnered with Google and Microsoft on free teacher training at national scale. We cover all of those, and what they do and do not credit, in our companion guide on AI seminars for teachers.
If you are a private-school JHS or SHS teacher, the Private Education Assistance Committee runs its own INSET at a published fee of ₱2,500 per participant carrying 15 CPD units approved by the PRC CPD Council. As published on peac.org.ph, it is not an AI program, so do not book it for AI content.
INSET stands for In-Service Training for Teachers. It is DepEd's professional development for teachers and school leaders already in service, organized at school or division level with guidelines issued through NEAP, the National Educators Academy of the Philippines.
There is no fixed national month. INSET is scheduled per school year under the DepEd school calendar order, currently DepEd Order No. 012, s. 2025, then cascaded regionally. Recent runs have been three to five days: SY 2023-2024 ran five days in late January 2024, while DepEd Region I set four days in late October 2025 for SY 2025-2026. Check your division memorandum for your dates.
No. INSET is DepEd professional development required by your employer and credited by your school or division. CPD is the PRC requirement under RA 10912 for renewing your Professional Identification Card every three years, credited per event through PRC-accredited providers. A session may count for one, both, or neither.
CPD remains mandatory under RA 10912, but PRC extended acceptance of the CPD Undertaking until 31 December 2026 under Resolution No. 2200, s. 2026, allowing renewal by undertaking to complete units in the next compliance period. That is a deferral, not an exemption, and no rule exempts public school teachers from CPD.
Yes. NEAP is a PRC-accredited CPD provider under accreditation PTR-2020-046, valid until 22 December 2026, and its listed offerings are generally free registration. DepEd also runs free national AI training programs including Project AGAP.AI and partnerships with Google and Microsoft.