LAWMAKERS from the House Committee on Basic Education and Culture recently criticized delays within the Civil Service Commission (CSC), urging the agency to fast-track its review and approval of Qualification Standards (QS) for School Counselor Associates (SCAs).
Committee members warned that bureaucratic bottlenecks are actively blocking the recruitment of thousands of vital mental health workers authorized under Republic Act No. 12080, also known as the Basic Education Mental Health and Well-Being Promotion Act.
The urgent appeal surfaced during a committee hearing addressing rising school safety concerns and campus violence.
Lawmakers used the session to scrutinize how the Department of Education (DepEd) implements its existing child protection protocols alongside the 2024 mental health law, following a string of recent violent incidents involving learners.
During the congressional hearing, DepEd Undersecretary for Human Resource and Organizational Development Willie Cabral confirmed a stark reality: despite the law being passed nearly two years ago, not a single School Counselor Associate has been hired.
Cabral explained that creating these essential plantilla (permanent) positions remains entirely contingent on the CSC officially greenlighting the qualification standards.
According to DepEd’s timeline, the department finalized job descriptions and submitted the proposed standards to the CSC on November 27, 2025.
By January 2026, the CSC sent back comments questioning a statutory requirement for 200 hours of specialized training.
DepEd responded by clarifying that this training was a non-negotiable mandate explicitly written into RA 12080 by Congress.
“We submitted a request for the creation of positions to the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), but we were told it is subject to the CSC’s approval,” Cabral told lawmakers.
“As of June 3, this year, we were informed that it is finally with the Commission en banc for approval. We sent another follow-up letter emphasizing that thousands of hires are frozen until they act.”
House Committee Chairperson and EDCOM 2 Co-Chairperson Rep. Roman Romulo expressed deep frustration over the prolonged timeline, linking the administrative delay to real-world consequences on school campuses.
“Why did it take so long?” Romulo questioned, addressing the CSC. “The public will think you are only moving now because of the recent violent incident in Tacloban. But if you had acted on this earlier, maybe schools could have intervened. This law was passed in 2024. How much longer must we wait?”
A CSC representative confirmed that the standards remain under deliberation. While asserting that the commission recognizes the critical urgency of the mental health crisis in schools, the agency declined to commit to a definitive timeline for final approval.
Committee members heavily emphasized that classroom teachers cannot continue to shoulder the burden of counseling distressed students on top of their demanding academic workloads.
Lawmakers noted that severe classroom congestion and high teacher-to-student ratios make it virtually impossible for educators to provide sustained psychosocial care.
Data from the Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM 2) Final Report underscores a severe national shortage of licensed guidance counselors, leaving thousands of existing DepEd vacancies completely unfilled.
The creation of the new “Associate” tier was designed specifically to bridge this gap by expanding the pool of qualified personnel capable of delivering school-based mental health services.
Romulo stressed that Congress has already fulfilled its role by passing the law and securing funding for 10,000 School Counselor Associate items under the 2026 General Appropriations Act.
However, the budget remains unusable without the CSC’s signature.
“Schools must remain places where children feel safe, supported, and ready to learn,” Romulo said. “The law is already there. The funding is already there. What we need now is swift implementation. We cannot afford any more delays.”
