THE NEED FOR

SCHOOL COUNSELING AND

GUIDANCE SERVICES &
SCHOOL COUNSELING
IN THE PHILIPPINES
Educ 304 – Guidance and Counseling
 OBJECTIVES
At the end of this lesson, the student will be able to:
• Acquire more understanding about the vital role
of School Counseling in the growth and
development of the learners;
• Deeply appreciate the important role of School
Counselors especially in promoting Mental Health
among the educators, the learners and the entire
educational community; and
• Carry out behaviors that would promote respect
and care for School Counselors as a journey-er in
life of the learners.
THE NEED FOR
SCHOOL COUNSELING AND
GUIDANCE SERVICES
School Counselors (Excerpt from ASCA)

A certified/licensed educators who improve student success for ALL

students by implementing a comprehensive school counseling program.

School counselors help all students:

• apply academic achievement strategies
• manage emotions and apply interpersonal skills
• plan for postsecondary options (higher education and/or work force)
School Counselors (Excerpt from ASCA)

Appropriate duties include providing:

• individual student academic planning and goal setting
• school counseling classroom lessons based on student success standards
• short-term counseling to students
• referrals for long-term support
• collaboration with families/teachers/ administrators/ community for student
success
• advocacy for students at individual education plan meetings and other student-
focused meetings
• data analysis to identify student issues, needs and challenges
Importance of School Counseling
The following conditions are some of the reasons why School
Counseling is vital (Villar, 2009):
1. The Learner’s Family Situation
2. The Complexity of Living
3. Experiences of Crisis even with very Young Learners
4. Increasing Rate of Persons Experiencing Anxiety and
Depression which others had led to Committing Suicide
The Learner’s Family Situation
Disappearing Family
Many married couples separate because husband and wife
cannot get along anymore with each other.
Many children are left on their own because their parents are
trying to earn for a living abroad or away from home.
The Learner’s Family Situation
Unready Family
Many young people get into early marriages or parenthood
that they are unprepared for. Many of these marriages
eventually break up, and the unprepared
couples become the parents in disappearing families.
The Learner’s Family Situation
The Pathological Family
Many children from the disappearing and unready families grow
up with unresolved issues or become pathological because of
the absence of nurturance and supervision and also the physical,
emotional, and verbal abuse that they may have experienced.
The Learner’s Family Situation
The Pathological Family
Children coming from pathological families tend to manifest
symptoms that may be a cry for help like showing disruptive or
inappropriate behavior. They also tend to become quarrelsome
or attention-seeking. They lose concentration or focus, thus
underachieve.
Complexity of Living
The Increased Mobility of Filipinos
This is another condition that makes the life of some learners
more complex. Migration due to
economic reason has made many children move from one place
to another. Experiences of pain
of loss and anger because of their situation prevail.
Complexity of Living
Increasing Career Options and the Changing
Demands in the Labor Market
Faced with more choices, students get confused as to where to
study after high school. Parents have become misguided as
well, leading their children to courses which they believe would
generate the biggest income regardless of the intellectual
capacity, interests, and aptitude of their children.
Complexity of Living
New Job Titles
New job titles have also come about with the changes in the
fields of concentration and the demands of the industrial and
corporate worlds.
Complexity of Living
Lack of Job Opportunities
The inability to find a job also results to frustration among the
youth. Their economic dependency on their family continues,
and the individuation may be delayed.
4.6 million Filipinos are unemployed
7.1 million are underemployed
Complexity of Living
Increasing Financial Difficulty
Financial difficulty is a source of instability among family
members. Joblessness can cause lowered self-esteem. Poverty
may be a source of more problems as experienced by many in
this time of COVID-19 Pandemic.
Experiences of Crisis
Other crisis situations such as calamities, crimes, accidents,
illness, as well as learning and other types of disorder make the
life of some of the learners more difficult and painful.
Increasing Rate of Persons Experiencing
Anxiety and Depression which others had led
to Committing Suicide
It is because of the mentioned reasons that School
Counseling continue to grow and improve itself to
be of service to humanity.
SCHOOL COUNSELING
IN THE PHILIPPINES
Laws affecting the Practice of Guidance and Counseling

• 1897 Philippine Constitution

• Batas Pambansa 232 (Education Act of 1982)
• RA 10533 (Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2013)
• RA 9258 (Guidance and Counseling Act of 2004)
• RA 11036 (Mental Health Act of 2018)
• RA 11206 (Secondary School Guidance and Counseling Act)
1897 Philippine Constitution

Article XIV, Sec 3, part 2:

All educational institutions shall

…strengthen ethical and spiritual values, develop moral
character and personal discipline, encourage critical and
creative thinking, broaden scientific and technological
knowledge, and promote vocational efficiency.
BP 232 (Education Act of 1982)

Section 9. Right of Students in School

The right to school guidance and counseling services for

decisions and selecting the alternatives in fields of work
suited to his potentialities.
RA 10533 (Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2013)
SEC. 9. Career Guidance and Counseling Advocacy.
... the DepED, in coordination with the DOLE, the TESDA and the
CHED, shall regularly conduct career advocacy activities for secondary
level students.
Career and employment guidance counselors, who are not registered
and licensed guidance counselors, shall be allowed to conduct career
advocacy activities to secondary level students of the school where they
are currently employed;
Provided, that they undergo a training program to be developed or
accredited by the DepED.
RA 9258 (Guidance and Counseling Act of 2004)
ARTICLE IV – Practice of Guidance and Counseling
SEC. 27 - Prohibition Against the Practice of Guidance and
Counseling
SEC. 28 - Right to Privileged Communication for Guidance
Counselors
RA 11036 (Mental Health Act of 2018)
Mental Health Services refer to psychosocial, psychiatric or neurologic
activities and programs along the whole range of mental health support
services including: promotion, prevention, treatment, and aftercare, which
are provided by mental health facilities and mental health professionals.
Mental Health Professional refers to a medical doctor, psychologist, nurse,
social worker, guidance counselor or any other appropriately- trained and
qualified person with specific skills relevant to the provision of mental health
services.
RA 11206 (Secondary School Guidance and Counseling Act)
SEC. 3. Objectives. – This Act shall pursue the following objectives:
(a) To institutionalize a career guidance and counseling program for students
in all public and private secondary schools nationwide in order to provide
them proper direction in pursuing subsequent tertiary education;
(b) To equip secondary education students with the capability to make
educated career decisions and expose them to relevant labor markets; and
(c) To ensure graduates of tertiary education meet the requirements of the
government, industry, and the economy.
RA 11206 (Secondary School Guidance and Counseling Act)

1. National Secondary School Career Guidance and

Counseling Program
2. CGCP Centers
3. National Career Assessment Examination
Excerpt from Philippine Guidance and Counseling Association’s Facebook Page
https://www.facebook.com/PGCAOfficial/posts/1112913112437562