Thousands of students may remain without dedicated mental health support as the Department of Education (DepEd) works to fill only 10,000 of the 48,000 school counselor associate positions needed nationwide, Education Secretary Sonny Angara said Wednesday.

Angara said the department aims to place a counselor associate in every public school but currently lacks the funding required to achieve that goal immediately.

“We need to hire 48,000 student counselor associates, one for every school. But our budget for 2026 only covers 10,000,” Angara said during a television interview.

The planned expansion comes as the agency responds to heightened concerns over campus safety and student well-being following Tuesday’s shooting at Ateneo de Zamboanga University, which left two students dead and another injured.

Angara cited that counselor associates would offer students accessible guidance and support when dealing with personal struggles.

“What is needed is someone for the child to talk to, so they do not feel like they have nowhere to go or no one to turn to,” Angara said.

Filling the remaining 38,000 positions will require several billion pesos, prompting the agency to consider a phased hiring strategy spread over three to five years to accommodate fiscal constraints.

The agency’s 2026 budget explicitly allocates funding for 10,000 School Counselor Associate I positions as part of broader efforts to prioritize learner mental health.

The creation of associate roles addresses an ongoing shortage of registered guidance counselors, who are required under Republic Act 12080 to hold master’s degrees.