The Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM2) is pushing for more school counselor associates, saying the Philippines needs at least one for every 500 students to better address bullying, school violence and other problems affecting children.

EDCOM2 Executive Director Dr. Karol Mark Yee said the government should initially ensure that every school has at least one school counselor associate, but staffing should eventually be based on the number of students.

“We have 47,000 schools. So the most basic would be 47,000 that we need,” Yee said in a radio interview on Sunday.

He said the proposed staffing level would require funding for about 37,000 additional school counselor associates beyond the initial 10,000 positions already funded by the government. But Yee said one counselor per school would still be insufficient for large schools, where a single staff member may be responsible for thousands of students.

“The ideal also for us is one is to 500, not lower than one is to 500 students. If you think about it, if you are alone and there are 7,000 students, you cannot support them,” he said.

EDCOM2 has previously reported that the Philippines has among the highest rates of bullying among participating countries in international assessments.

“If children feel that they are not safe, how will they focus on their studies?” he said.

Yee urged schools to move beyond responding to incidents after they occur and establish systems to identify students who may be struggling before problems escalate.

“Prevention is the best solution,” Yee said, calling for stronger psychosocial support and student formation programs.

Teachers need support

Yee also said the burden should not fall on teachers, who already face heavy workloads.

He proposed that class advisers be relieved of administrative and other non-teaching duties so they can spend more time monitoring students.

“Yung class advisers, for example, ma-exempt na from all administrative and non-teaching tasks para talagang yung oras nila nakalaan sa pagtutok sa mga estudyante sa kanilang homeroom,” he explained.

EDCOM2 also called for the designation of learning formation officers in schools and the deployment of school counselor associates and guidance counselors.

Yee said schools need more adults who can monitor and support students, particularly in overcrowded schools where the ratio of students to teachers and other personnel is high.

“The schools should not only be about teaching but also about forming the character and conscience of the young,” she said.