EDITORIAL - Wanted: Guidance counselors

For several years now, the Second Congressional Commission on Education or EDCOM 2 has been raising the need for more guidance counselors in public schools.

As of August 2024, public elementary and secondary schools lacked some 5,000 guidance counselors, according to EDCOM 2.

At the time, bullying in schools was already recognized as a key problem in the dismal performance of Filipino 15-year-old students in the Program for International Student Assessment or PISA.

Guidance counselors must pass a professional licensure exam and have a master’s degree in guidance counseling.

Education Secretary Sonny Angara wanted the requirement for a master’s degree removed. First of all because only a handful of higher education institutions offer this course, and second because the additional costs of obtaining a master’s degree compared to the starting salaries and challenges of the job may deter youths from pursuing such a career.

But in July this year, the Civil Service Commission reaffirmed the requirement for a master’s degree for guidance counselors, and a bachelor’s degree for school counselor associates. Both need civil service eligibility.

The Department of Education is hiring more school counselor associates, but this requires funding. It’s unclear if DepEd, whose budget proposal for 2027 is lower by over P39 billion from its 2026 outlay, will get the necessary funds for mental wellness.

PISA administrators had previously described the Philippines as the “bullying capital” of the world. Based on the results of the PISA in 2025, the Philippines improved to third place, ranking behind Rwanda and Kenya, which participated for the first time in the PISA.

But the Philippines could regain the dubious distinction as the bullying capital following the killings of students by their schoolmates mostly inside schools using guns and knives in separate incidents since 2025.

While the killers in some of these incidents appeared to have been the bullies rather than the bullied, their impact on the mental health of the students in the schools could affect academic performance.

At the same time, the suspects obviously had serious mental health problems, with the shooters in the two most recent cases killing themselves.

The shooting rampages have emphasized the importance of timely psychological intervention that might have helped prevent the tragedies. But where are the mental health professionals who can provide such interventions?

In many public schools, teachers double as counselors, but mental health professionals obviously have specialized training that teachers lack.

Addressing extreme violence among youths requires multiple approaches, but one of the key elements is mental health intervention. Officials need to do more to address this lack of mental health professionals in schools.