December 9, 2024 | 10:16am
MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signed on Monday, December 9 a law that expands the pool of professionals that can provide mental health services to students amid the decades-long shortage of guidance counselors in public schools.
Republic Act 12080, or the Basic Education Mental Health and Well-Being Promotion Act, creates better-paying career paths for licensed guidance counselors while authorizing behavioral science graduates to become “school counselor associates.”
Pay hike for counselors. The new law bumps up guidance counselors’ salary grade from a range of SG 11 to 13, to SG 16 to 24, hiking the maximum salary grade they can achieve by 11 spots. Psychologists may now also provide counseling services in schools under the measure.
Currently, guidance counselors are among the lowest paid in the basic education system, with entry-level counselors assigned salary grade 11 P27,000 per month). This is even as they are required to complete a Master’s degree and pass a licensure exam before they can provide counseling services.
As a result, too few students take up the profession. Latest government data show that there are 4,460 vacancies for guidance counselor positions nationwide as of March 2024.
This far outnumbers the estimated 251 graduates of Masters in Guidance and Counseling programs from 2018 to 2021, according to the Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM 2).
The shortage of guidance counselors has forced several schools to assign teachers to be their de-facto guidance counselor, calling them “guidance teachers” instead.
Stand-ins prohibited
Having non-licensed counselors stand in as mental health workers is not allowed under the two-decade Republic Act 9258 or the Guidance and Counseling Act, but this law has not been strictly implemented.
To institutionalize mental health service in schools, the new law also requires DepEd to establish and maintain “care centers” in public schools.
All schools will also need to provide its students with a range of mental health services from screening and evaluation to monitoring. Schools must also be capable of having a referral system for students needing diagnosis from licensed mental health professionals outside school.
“The DepEd has been trying to encourage more registered guidance counselors to join DepEd. There were in fact 5,000 items but not filled because of lack of registered guidance counselors and the salary grade is only 11 to a maximum of 13,” House basic education chairperson Rep. Roman Romulo told Philstar.com.
To address immediate staffing needs, the law allows volunteer teachers chosen by principals to continue serving as guidance advocates with additional pay after completing required training.
The legislation comes as DepEd data showed 404 student suicides and 2,147 attempted suicides in 2021, figures that were repeatedly discussed during congressional hearings on students’ mental health struggles.
Reactions
Francis Subong, a guidance counselor and former official of the Philippine Guidance and Counseling Association (PGCA), sees promise in the new law. “Hopefully, this law would be a stimulus. Since career progression and benefits are better now, enrollment for masters and the number of takers might increase drastically in three to five years’ time,” he told Philstar.com.
However, Subong cautioned that quality control remains a concern. “The Philippines needs Counselor Supervisors, which we don’t have a system for. Many aspects of the system need improvement,” he added.
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