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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Increase guidance designates to address bullying incidents, Gatchalian advises schools

Increase guidance designates to address bullying incidents, Gatchalian advises schools

Published Apr 16, 2025 06:22 am

Senator Sherwin Gatchalian has urged public schools to increase the number of guidance designates to address bullying among students.

Gatchalian proposed this during a recent hearing of the Senate Committee on Basic Education which tackled the recent incidents of bullying and violence in schools.

Guidance designates are teachers assigned to perform duties related to guidance services whenever licensed counselors are unavailable.

“Part of our recommendation to DepEd (Department of Education) is to review the role of guidance designates. Maybe we can increase their number depending on the size of the school by adjusting the ratio,” Gatchalian said.

The senator also urged the DepEd to review the ideal ratio of guidance designates to learners. So far, only one guidance counselor or guidance designate is assigned for every 500 learners.

Based on DepEd data, 10,412 out of 45,326 schools have no guidance designates for School Year 2024-2025.

Though Gatchalian maintains his belief that teachers should be relieved of non-teaching tasks, he sees the increase in guidance designates as a stopgap measure in the absence of guidance counselors.

Moreover, the lawmaker stressed the importance of implementing the Basic Education Mental Health and Well-Being Promotion Act (Republic Act No. 12080), which he authored and sponsored.

The law primarily mandates the development of a School-Based Mental Health Program to promote the mental health and well-being of students.

At the same time, Gatchalian said the law also seeks to address the shortage of guidance counselors in public schools.

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