Gatchalian: More guidance counselors needed for children at risk

MANILA, Philippines — Strengthening guidance counseling in schools is a better alternative for children at risk and children in conflict with the law than lowering the minimum age of criminal responsibility, a senator said Tuesday.

Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian said that a section of Republic Act 9258, or the Guidance and Counseling Act of 2004, must be amended to increase the number of guidance counselors in schools nationwide.

Gatchalian stressed that guidance counselors play a vital role in addressing the needs of children at risk in order to prevent them from becoming juvenile offenders.

“The current requirements of the law may be too stringent and may have been a factor in the low number of guidance and counseling graduates applying for a license,” he said.

Section 13 of the law states that in order to qualify for the licensure examination, an applicant must:

• be a citizen of the Philippines or a foreigner whose country has reciprocity with the Philippines in the practice of guidance and counseling
• has not been convicted of any offense involving moral turpitude by a competent court
• holder of a Bachelor’s Degree in Guidance and Counseling or in other allied disciplines and a master’s degree in Guidance and Counseling from an institution in the Philippines or abroad recognized of accredited by the Commission on Higher Education

“So we are now looking into the possibility of allowing bachelor’s degree holders to take the guidance and counseling licensure exam and waive the licensure exam requirement for those with at least a master’s degree and relevant experience,” Gatchalian said.

The lawmaker said he is also looking into relaxing the guidance counselor to student ratio requirement.

The Department of Education requires public and private elementary and high schools to hire one guidance counselor for every 500 students.

But according to Gatchalian, there were only 3,220 registered guidance counselors as of July 2017.

The House of Representatives swiftly passed a bill that seeks to lower the minimum age of criminal responsibility from 15 years old to 12.

The Senate, on the other hand, started its plenary deliberations on the matter Monday. — Gaea Katreena Cabico