Gatchalian pushes for more guidance designates to curb school bullying

Senator Win Gatchalian is calling for an increase in guidance designates in public schools to help address bullying and violence.

He raised the proposal during a Senate Basic Education Committee hearing on recent bullying incidents. Guidance designates are teachers assigned to carry out guidance-related duties.

Gatchalian also urged the Department of Education (DepEd) to review the current ratio of one guidance designate or counselor per 500 students. As of School Year 2024–2025, 10,412 out of 45,326 schools have no guidance designate, according to DepEd.

While Gatchalian supports removing non-teaching tasks from teachers, he sees the addition of guidance designates as a temporary fix due to the shortage of licensed counselors.

“Part of our recommendation to DepEd 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,” he said.

The senator also emphasized the need to fully implement the Basic Education Mental Health and Well-Being Promotion Act(RA 12080), which he authored. The law mandates school-based mental health programs and aims to address the lack of guidance counselors in public schools.IMT