School counselors, who do not need a license to be employed by the Department of Education, can help expand students’ access to mental health services.
MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines has about 4,000 licensed counselors, according to 2022 data.
A severe shortage of counseling counselors is a major problem amid the high rate of infection bullying schools and concerns about the mental health of students.
Recently, June 22 Tacloban City school shooting he further emphasized the importance of consultants in help the traumatized to recoverand possibly prevent violent incidents in the first place.
There is already legislation that mandates the creation of school counselor partnerships to help ease the burden – Republic Act (RA) No. 12080 or the Law for the Promotion of Mental Health and Wellbeing of Basic Education, which President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signed in December 2024.
Here are some quick facts about school counselor partners:
What are the characteristics?
Those qualified to become school counselor associates are undergraduates in guidance and counseling or psychology or graduates of any undergraduate degree with at least 18 units of courses in guidance and counseling, psychology, or behavioral science.
They must have 200 hours of supervised experience or internship in guidance and counseling, preferably in a school or community setting.
A person does not need a license to be employed by the Department of Education (DepEd) as a school counselor associate.
Under the law, School Counselor Associates I to V have a Grade 11 to 15 Salary.
What is their job?
School counselors cannot provide counseling, which licensed guidance counselors can do.
They can assist with training and advocacy, student profiling and documentation, initial assessment, and referrals. They may also have orientations for students, parents and teachers, including awareness programs to prevent and address bullying.
If they are trained, they can provide psychological first aid. If they are psychologists, they can administer mental health screening tools and refer students to a licensed counselor.
Basically, school counselor associates provide services under the supervision of school counselors. If the school only has a school counselor member, students who need counseling must be referred to the school’s unit counselor.
When does recruitment start?
Secretary of Education Sonny Angara has said that DepEd will do streamline the hiring process within 36 days. The process will begin as soon as the Department of Budget and Management issues a notice to officially approve the creation of the position.
DepEd aims to start deploying school counselor partners to public schools nationwide by September – only the first group which would be employed since the signing of the law.
It was only July 1 when the education department announced that Public Service Commission it had already approved the qualification standards for the position.
How many opportunities are available?
Under the 2026 budget, DepEd can hire 10,000 school counselor associates.
Deputy Education Secretary Wilfredo Cabral also told senators during a Senate hearing on Thursday, July 9, that DepEd will be adjusting the 4,400 vacant guidance counselor positions to create additional positions for school counselor associates.
But there are more than 45,000 public schools in the country. Cabral said they will prioritize the deployment of school counselor partners to large schools, campuses with high incidences of bullying, and those that have documented incidents of violence or threats to safety.
The shortage of guidance counselors has not yet been resolved
The Philippine Counseling and Counseling Association (PGCA) welcomed the creation of the school counselor associate position, saying it is an “important investment” in expanding the school mental health system.
But the PGCA said that the country still does not have enough guidance counselors.
“The creation of school counselor partnerships should therefore be accompanied by similar efforts to recruit, retain, and promote registered guidance counselors,” read part of the group’s July 4 statement.
“Without enough licensed school counselors and school division counselors, the system may be more effective at identifying students who need professional help than providing the counseling services they need.”
The PGCA also called for a review of compensation, career development, and retention policies for registered guidance counselors to encourage more professionals to enter and remain in the public school system. – Rappler.com
