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The Department of Education (DepEd) is expediting the recruitment and deployment of 10,000 School Counselor Associates (SCA) nationwide as part of efforts to strengthen mental health support in schools.
Education Secretary Sonny Angara said the initiative is being accelerated following recent incidents of violence on school campuses, with the agency aiming to have the newly hired counselor associates deployed by the end of the year.
“Keeping our schools safe is not just about building fences or installing metal detectors. It is also about making sure our learners have trusted, caring adults to talk to whenever they are going through tough times,” Angara said.
DepEd said it shortened its standard hiring process to 36 days following the approval of the SCA I qualification standards by the Civil Service Commission (CSC) on June 30, 2026, and the creation of 10,000 plantilla items by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) on July 15.
As of August 27, DepEd’s digital hiring portal, the Agile Gateway for Appointments and Placements (AGAP), showed that 9,702 SCA I positions had already been posted.
Of these, 785 were open for applications, 8,811 were under assessment, and 106 were already for appointment.
The remaining 298 positions were either awaiting the issuance of a Notice of Organization, Staffing and Compensation Action (NOSCA) or had yet to be posted.
DepEd said candidate assessments and appointments would be completed before onboarding, allowing the new counselor associates to be deployed to schools by year-end.
The SCA positions were created under Republic Act No. 12080, or the Basic Education Mental Health and Well-Being Promotion Act of 2024.
The counselor associates will provide frontline mental health and well-being services, basic psychosocial support, information and advocacy, and learner referral services, while assisting school counselors.
Angara said schools with documented bullying cases or high mental health needs would be prioritized for deployment.
“While we carry out emergency drills and physical safety checks, we must respond to mental health needs with the same urgency,” Angara said.
“By speeding up the hiring of our School Counselor Associates, we are creating a stronger safety net for our children,” he added.
Apart from the initial 10,000 SCA I positions, DepEd has requested an additional 5,000 items through the scrap-and-build process, primarily by converting existing vacant guidance-related positions. — VBL, GMA News
