Deped confirms shortage of guidance counselors in public schools

The Department of Education (DepEd) has acknowledged a severe shortage of guidance counselors despite having 5,000 plantilla positions for the role, Assistant Secretary Joyce Andaya said in an interview with DZYM.

DepEd officials reported that only about 1,000 registered counselors are currently serving more than 40,000 schools nationwide.

The agency warned that the gap makes it harder to respond to cases of bullying, academic stress, and rising incidents of depression and anxiety among students.

During President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s 2025 State of the Nation Address (SONA), he directed the hiring of more guidance counselors to strengthen mental health support in schools.

He said the government aims to ease teachers’ workload and address the growing problem of bullying and depression among learners.

In a press release last April, Senator Win Gatchalian stressed that the lack of counselors remains a challenge to ensuring students’ mental health and safety.

Under the current setup, there is only one guidance counselor or designate for every 500 learners, while more than 10,000 public schools had no guidance designate in School Year 2024–2025.

Gatchalian urged DepEd to maximize the use of “guidance designates,” or teachers temporarily assigned to guidance work, while pushing for measures to attract more licensed counselors into the public school system.

He also warned that without urgent reforms, the Philippines risks again being labeled the “bullying capital of the world” in international studies that have consistently ranked the country high in bullying cases.