DepEd fills school counselor associate posts

The Department of Education (DepEd) has filled more than half of its 10,000 school counselor associate positions nationwide as a severe shortage of licensed guidance counselors and a series of deadly campus shootings highlight the urgent need for mental health support in schools.

Education Secretary Sonny Angara led the oath-taking ceremony in Makati City for 339 newly hired School Counselor Associate I personnel assigned to the National Capital Region.

He credited DepEd Undersecretary William Cabral with expediting the hiring process to address gaps in student support services.

Angara said the newly appointed associates will assist students with personal challenges, family relationships and peer dynamics in addition to career orientation.

“Not only career guidance but also personal problems, how to navigate their student life, their relationship with faculty, with family,” Angara said.

“They will also observe if there are children who seem depressed, lost, or feel like they are not part of the community,” he added.

The newly hired associates will hold regular plantilla positions at Salary Grade 11, providing permanent employment rather than contract-based job orders, and are set to assume their duties immediately following their oath-taking.

The hiring drive comes in the wake of three deadly shooting incidents on school grounds since June, raising widespread concern over student safety and mental health response capabilities.