Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Rex Gatchalian urged students to pursue a social work course, citing the vital role of social workers in defending the welfare and well-being of Filipinos.

Gatchalian on Dec. 12 held a discussion with social work students from various academic institutions and used the Covid-19 pandemic as the best example to highlight the crucial role of social workers in the country.

He said that even during the height of the pandemic, social workers continued to go out because various types of humanitarian assistance were being provided.

The discussion aimed to encourage and motivate students to pursue or complete a social work course and to recognize the profession’s profound impact on the country’s social welfare and development.

“In social work, anything goes. You can find yourself in war zones, and conflict areas. You can find yourselves in school. You can find yourselves in care facilities. You can find yourselves everywhere. That’s what makes it both exciting and challenging,” Gatchalian said.

“This country needs more social workers. This country needs social workers or people with hearts like yourselves. The social workers here are the people with the biggest heart,” he added.

Gatchalian expressed gratitude to social work students for persevering and pursuing the social profession despite the many obstacles that they may face in the field.

“May you, yourselves, continue to serve as an inspiration for younger people to pursue the noble vocation of social work,” he said.

Gatchalian also shared that the DSWD is also doing its part to provide more incentives and learning and development opportunities for social workers.

“There are things that we will start introducing next year to make it even more attractive. We have to entice more people to join the workforce,” he said.

The dialogue was attended by around 550 social work students and faculty members from various universities and colleges across the country.