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Friday, March 29, 2024

‘Hire more school counselors’

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A party-list legislator on Sunday urged Congress to “decisively address” the shortage of school guidance counselors whose services are needed to help students deal with a wide range of learning difficulties associated with COVID-19-era distance education.

“There’s no question many students are having a hard time coping with remote modular as well as online learning, mainly due to the lack of social interaction,” Rep. Michael Defensor of Anakalusugan said.

“We need more guidance counselors to reach out and listen to students who may feel isolated and need encouragement to complete assigned tasks.”

The Department of Education has 5,398 authorized positions for guidance counselors. However, 80 percent or 4,302 of the positions remain vacant due to low pay, Defensor said.

“Congress should fix the problem by bumping up the pay for the entry-level position of Guidance Counselor I by 53 percent, or by five notches, from Salary Grade 11 to SG 16,” Defensor said.

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The minimum salary for SG 11 is P23,877, whereas that of SG 16 is P36,628, with both grades subject to two further annual upward adjustments under the Salary Standardization Law of 2019.

Defensor also wants the pay for the highest position of Guidance Services Specialist IV upgraded from SG 22 (P68,415) to SG 23 (P76,907).

Under existing guidelines, a school guidance counselor must at least be a licensed professional teacher with a master’s degree.

“Once we raise the pay grades, the DepEd will be able to attract more applicants for guidance counselors, including those from the ranks of qualified teachers laid off on account of the closure of hundreds of private schools,” Defensor said.

At least 4,488 teachers recently lost their jobs after 865 private elementary and high schools permanently shut down due to poor enrollment, and their inability to comply with the DepEd’s requirements for the conduct of distance learning.

Defensor also urged the Commission on Higher Education to allot more scholarship funds to licensed teachers who wish to obtain a master’s degree so they can qualify as guidance counselors.

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