More guidance counselors needed to help kids at risk – Gatchalian

MANILA, Philippines – The Guidance and Counseling Act of 2004 must be amended to hire more guidance counselors and address the needs of children-at-risk (CARs), Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian said on Tuesday.

Gatchalian said the amendment would allow the Department of Education (DepEd) to hire more guidance counselors who can help and prevent  CARs from becoming juvenile offenders.

Gatchalian specifically wants to allow bachelor’s degree holders to take the guidance and counseling licensure exam as the current law allows only master’s degree holders.

“Sa ngayon kasi bago ka makapag-board exam para makakuha ng lisensya, required na may master’s degree sa guidance and counseling ang isang aplikante,” Gatchalian said.

(Currently, you need to have a master’s degree to be able to take the licensure exam.)

“Para magkaroon ng lisensya ang isang teacher, bachelor’s degree lang ang kailangan bago makapag-board exam. So we are now looking into the possibility of allowing bachelor’s degree holders to take the guidance and counseling licensure exam and waive the licensure exam requirement for those with at least a master’s degree and relevant experience,” he added.

Gatchalian said 52,264 guidance counselors are needed nationwide for the 26,311,949 students from kindergarten to senior high school, as of Academic Year 2017-2018.

The Philippines, however, only has 3,220 registered guidance counselors as of July 2017 since the first batch of licensure examinees was conducted in 2008.

Gatchalian also said strengthening counseling in schools is a better alternative in providing intervention programs for CARs and children in conflict with the law (CICL) than lowering the minimum age of criminal liability./gsg