Wanted: Counselors

While riveted by the events unfolding at the Senate, let’s not forget the threat faced by millions of young people in our schools.

This week, security was tightened at a school in Biliran while classes were suspended yesterday at the Hua Siong College of Iloilo over a “reported security concern” and at Far Eastern University-Alabang because of a bomb threat.

Even if such threats are foiled or are merely pranks, they surely affect the mental health of students and school staff alike.

You can’t go to a learning institution fearing that it might be your last day on Earth because some troubled teen has a death wish and wants to take others with him.

The deadly attacks carried out by students could inspire copycats. Unless nipped early and decisively, serious mental health problems could reach epidemic proportions in our schools, threatening not only learning but, as we have tragically seen, lives.

There are no quick fixes to the deadly violence perpetrated by minors against minors, now occurring with increasing frequency in both public and private high schools.

Obviously, multifaceted responses are called for, with everyone helping to deal with mental health issues and prevent violence.

One way of being part of the solution: you or someone you know might want to work as a mental health counselor in schools.

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The shooter at the Banga National High School in South Cotabato had been exhibiting troubling behavior and psychological problems for several months now, according to his bereaved mother, who reportedly planned to take him to a psychiatrist.

She probably couldn’t find a psychiatrist. Data from the Professional Regulation Commission showed that as of July this year, the country had only 548 medical doctors specializing in mental health.

The country has 2,873 licensed psychologists and 50,048 licensed psychometricians who assist psychologists. Whether they would be interested in working in schools is another story.

The country has 5,000 registered guidance counselors, but only about 1,000 work as RGCs in a system of over 45,000 public schools. The recommended ratio is one RGC per 250 students.

Recruiting RGCs can be a problem. Not only because of the modest pay compared with the needed qualifications (starting salary is P40,000 a month), but also because only a few higher education institutions offer the required master’s degree in guidance counseling or psychology.

These include the University of the Philippines, Ateneo de Manila University, De La Salle University, National Teachers’ College and Miriam College.

An RGC needs a professional license and civil service eligibility to work in public schools.

Since 2024, the Department of Education (DepEd) has been asking for the scrapping of the requirement for a master’s degree for RGCs. But this will require an amendment of Republic Act (RA) 9258, the Guidance and Counseling Act of 2004.

While waiting for such an amendment, DepEd is creating this year about 10,000 positions for school counselor associates, where the starting salary is P31,000 a month plus P2,000 personal economic relief allowance.

The requirements for counselor associates are less rigorous: a bachelor’s degree in psychology, guidance and counseling or related course, with at least 18 units in behavioral science and supervised internship of at least 200 hours.

Last July, the Civil Service Commission approved the qualification standards for the school counselors. The CSC said this was in support of RA 12080, the Basic Education Mental Health and Well-Being Promotion Act passed in December 2024.

RA 12080 requires all public elementary and high schools to set up a Care Center to provide mental health counseling, screening and crisis response, with focus on stress management, suicide prevention and referral systems for students and teachers alike.

The law also requires the establishment of a Mental Health and Well-Being Office in every Schools Division Office to supervise local programs. It creates plantilla positions for DepEd schools division counselors, school counselors and school counselor associates.

In August 2024, executive director Karol Mark Yee of the Second Congressional Commission on Education had said that every year, the country has only 300 graduates of guidance counseling nationwide. At that rate, Yee said it would take 14 years to fill the needed vacancies.

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In just three months, we’ve seen three schools hit by gun violence, with the teenage shooters in two of the incidents turning the gun on themselves after their rampage. Also in July at the Las Piñas National High School, a 14-year-old student stabbed dead a 13-year-old schoolmate who failed to give the killer his P10 change for bottled water.

Among impressionable youths, such incidents could start a trend. We saw indications of this last year in fatal stabbings in high schools in Las Piñas and Parañaque.

Law enforcement agencies worldwide are finding it tough to pursue the online “groomers” who incite troubled minors to commit mass murder and self-harm. The cross-border groomers are not only faceless but also don’t espouse political or religious ideas.

Cybercrime authorities are correct in banning access to the online games promoting extreme violence through which the groomers do their recruitment. Banning or strictly regulating other online platforms that are widely used by adults, however, is complicated.

By now, adults should know enough (we hope) to keep their guns away from the reach of others, especially their children. The father of the shooter in South Cotabato, a DepEd employee, has been relieved. But reports said he didn’t leave his gun lying around, like the Bureau of Customs official who left his guns in his car that brought his son to the Ateneo de Zamboanga high school.

Parents are being urged to monitor their children’s online use – easier said than done when it comes to teens. Also, there are parents themselves who are in urgent need of mental health support.

Mental health issues used to be scoffed at as drama and those suffering stigmatized. Today the world knows that mental health problems can kill.

In our country, we need to address the acute shortage of professionals who can serve as frontliners in dealing with the problem.