EDCOM 2 Commissioners Senator Sherwin Gatchalian and Senator Joel Villanueva, along with Senator Pia Cayetano called on the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) to prioritize the implementation of essential courses and the reconstitution of technical panels to resolve issues within higher education programs.
In today’s CHED 2025 budget hearing in the Senate, CHED Chairperson Popoy De Vera cited mental health concerns as one of the main reasons for student drop out. Senator Villanueva pointed out the shortage of guidance counselors, a profession struggling with low enrollees and graduates due to its restricting career path in the education sector.
Citing data from EDCOM 2, Commissioner Senator Joel Villanueva also underscored that in DepEd, only around 2,000 guidance counselors serve approximately 28 million students. While higher education institutions have a more favorable guidance counselor-to-student ratio, the scarcity of graduates from guidance and counseling programs remains a major issue. CHED Chairman Popoy De Vera disclosed that only 43 higher education institutions (HEIs) offer guidance and counseling programs nationwide, calling the career path in the field “a dead end”.
“There are actually regions in the Philippines where there is no university offering guidance counseling – so you can imagine how challenging it would be to produce guidance counselors. In our data, Region II and Region IX have no HEIs offering guidance and counseling…We hope that Congress can amend the law fast enough so that we can produce enough guidance counselors”, De Vera said.
“We need to fast-track the courses that we are in dire need of”, Senator Cayetano stressed. She suggested a possible educational pathway where students taking up professional degrees such as education could undergo an additional 12 to 18 units to qualify as “school counselor associates”.
Chairman De Vera welcomed the suggestion and committed to addressing the shortage. “We’re very interested to be part of the initiative. We can also adapt what we are doing in the enhanced master’s program in nursing, which recognizes prior learning and experience, so students do not need to take all the units. We achieved that program in two months, hopefully magawa din natin sa ibang courses.”
Delays in reconstituting Technical Panels
The issue of technical panels was also raised during the hearing. CHED Technical Panels, composed of experts and stakeholders from various fields, are responsible for reviewing and updating programs to ensure they align with industry needs and international standards.
EDCOM 2 reported that despite efforts to revitalize these panels, progress has been slow. From FY2020 to FY2023, only 15 out of 98 technical panels were reconstituted, leaving 63 still pending.
“What is the reason for the delay?”, Villanueva prodded.
Aline Magalong, Director of CHED’s Office of Programs and Standards Development, provided updates on the situation. As of October 1, 2024, 33 technical panels have been reconstituted, but many are still in the process of being rationalized, particularly those with overlapping disciplines.
Chairperson De Vera also explained that the remaining pending technical panels are still undergoing ongoing consolidation, saying, “A lot of the technical panels with similar disciplines have been consolidated. What we are still working on are the panels for engineering and technical fields as we are still working with the Private Sector Advisory Council. Hopefully, we can finalize these by December.”
Villanueva noted that, despite this progress, 40 technical panels still remain to be reconstituted.
“We really need more input and support from the different industries and sectors to really help us address these gaps. Walang huhugutan ang CHED kung wala ang input nitong mga experts in the other areas,” said Senator Pia Cayetano.
