This study investigated the self-perceived proficiency of Junior and Senior High School Social Science teachers in DepEd Samar Division, Philippines, against National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) standards. The study compared Non-Education Graduates (NEG, N=36), Social Science Education Graduates (SSEG, N=41), and Non-major Social Science Education Graduates (NSSEG, N=20). Employing a descriptive-comparative research design, data were collected from 97 teachers using a validated, researcher-made instrument incorporating Likert-scale items and qualitative open-ended questions aligned with the five NCSS core competencies (Content Knowledge - CK Application of Content through Planning - ACP Design & Implementation of Instruction & Assessment - DIIA Social Studies Learners & Learning - SSLL Professional Responsibility & Informed Action - PRIA). Statistical analysis utilized descriptive statistics, Kruskal-Wallis H tests, and Mann-Whitney U tests (α=0.05). Findings revealed that Education Graduates (both SSEG and NSSEG) reported significantly higher proficiency levels than NEGs in ACP, DIIA, and PRIA. No significant differences were found among the three groups for CK and SSLL, nor between the two Education Graduate subgroups (SSEG vs. NSSEG) across all domains. PRIA emerged as the domain with the lowest overall perceived proficiency, while CK presented challenges particularly for NEGs and NSSEGs. The results suggest that formal pedagogical training significantly influences perceived competence in planning, instruction, assessment, and professional responsibility, more so than subject-specific specialization for these domains. The study highlights specific professional development needs and informs the proposed intervention program, Project PROFESS, designed to address the identified competency gaps.