DepEd eyes higher budget to hire more school counselor associates

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Education (DepEd) is set to request additional funding to hire more school counselor associates to address learners’ mental well-being.

At the Kapihan sa Manila Prince Hotel forum on Wednesday, DepEd Governance and Operations Undersecretary Malcolm Garma noted that the agency had already begun the process of hiring nearly 10,000 school counselor associates.

“Ipa-prioritize natin yung mga schools na, based on our mapping, yung hotspots where violence was recorded,” Garma explained.

Article continues after this advertisement

(We will be prioritizing schools that, based on our mapping, are hotspots where violence was recorded.)

FEATURED STORIES

NEWSINFO

NEWSINFO

NEWSINFO

“[It’s] budget season, so we will be asking for more because that 10,000 [counselor associates] will not be enough for the more than 45,000 schools we have,” he added.

READ: DepEd seeks hiring of almost 10,000 counselors after school shootings

DepEd is scheduled to face the House of Representatives appropriations committee this coming Monday, September 7.

Garma noted that the department faced a challenge in hiring licensed guidance counselors.

Article continues after this advertisement

In response to this challenge, according to the undersecretary, the agency hoped to “downgrade” some of the agency’s line items for registered guidance counselors to school counselor associates.

“Hindi ibig sabihin wala nang kakayahan itong associates to do counseling because they should be graduates of psychology or training in terms of behavioral science,” he explained.

Article continues after this advertisement

(This does not mean, however, that associates have no capability to do counseling because they should be graduates of psychology or have training in terms of behavioral science.)

“We are optimistic that the hiring of counselor associates would be a game-changer in many schools,” he added.

There are only around 5,000 registered guidance counselors in the Philippines, with only 1,000 serving under DepEd, the agency’s human resource and organizational development Undersecretary Willie Cabral said in August.

Guidance counseling in schools regained public attention following the fatal school shootings in Tacloban City last June 22 and Zamboanga City last August 18.

Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.

Your subscription has been successful.

Although psychologists have reportedly also attributed the perpetrators’ actions to other factors apart from their state of mind, the incidents renewed interest in child and adolescent mental health. /jpv