TIGHTENED SECURITY Students of San Jose National High School in Tacloban City return to campus on Monday, two weeks after a mass shooting that left three students dead and 20 others wounded and injured. The school reopened with heightened security and psychosocial activities. —Photo by Joey A. Gabieta
TACLOBAN CITY, LEYTE, Philippines — The Department of Education has opened plantilla (permanent) positions for guidance counselors and assistant guidance counselors in Tacloban City, following the June 22 mass shooting at San Jose National High School (SJNHS), as education officials acknowledged the urgent need to strengthen students’ mental health and psychosocial support services.
The shooting, allegedly carried out by Grade 9 and Grade 10 students, claimed the lives of three students and wounded and injured 20 others, prompting calls for stronger campus security and improved mechanisms for identifying students experiencing emotional or behavioral difficulties.
Nilo Eder, information officer of the Tacloban City Schools Division, appealed to licensed guidance counselors to apply for the newly opened positions, saying the division is severely understaffed.
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