Less than 50% of 47k public schools have CCTV cameras -DepEd

The Department of Education on Monday reported that less than 50% of the 47,000 public schools in the country have CCTV cameras installed despite numerous violent incidents in the past months.

DepEd said this during the deliberations of the House Committee on Basic Education and Culture on various bills on school security and safety.

"After Tacloban, nag-conduct ang DepEd ng security and safety audit. During that June audit, lumalabas na may 36% of our schools ay mayroon nang CCTV. Pero nag-run tayo ng another round of audit," DepEd Assistant Secretary Roger Masapol said.

"Ngayon, nasa 49% na po ng schools natin ang mayroon nang CCTV cameras," he added.

(The DepEd conducted a security and safety audit after the Tacloban incident. The June audit showed that 36% of our schools already have CCTV. We ran another audit, and it showed 49% of our schools now have CCTV cameras.)

Masapol said he estimates all schools will have CCTV cameras by 2028.

The DepEd's recommendation on how many CCTV cameras should be installed in schools depends on the schools' enrollment.

For small schools with 500 students, at least five to 10 cameras are recommended.

For medium schools with 501 to 1,000 students, the DepEd's recommendation is 10 to 15 CCTV cameras.

For schools with more than 1,000 students, the DepEd recommends at least 20 CCTV cameras.

DepEd officials reported that less than half of all public schools have security guards.

They recommended that enrollment be a factor in the number of security guards assigned per school.

House Committee on Education chairman Pasig City Rep. Roman Romulo said it should be based on the number of entrances and exits of the school.

The National Youth Commission, however, emphasized that ensuring the security and safety of students does not end with erecting perimeter fences, putting metal detectors, and assigning security guards to schools.

"Hardening school infrastructure without healing the halls through mental health, threat assessment, and student support will only transform our learning into places of intimidation," NYC Executive Director and COO Atty. Carl Vincent Quitoriano told the committee.

Quitoriano cited a Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2022 finding that shows that 43% of girls and 53% of boys in the Philippines experience bullying regularly.

He added that the Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM2) noted that incidents of bullying may be underreported for fear of retaliation.

He added that "the National Youth Commission's 5th National Youth Assessment Study or NYAS revealed that 50.5% of surveyed youth experienced mental health distress and an alarming 31% reported suicidal ideation."

"In NYC's 2026 policy research and legislative agenda or PRLA, rising youth mental health issues rank as the number 1 urgent concern under health, while insecurity in schools and online spaces rank among the top peace and security concerns," Quitoriano added.

The NYC recommended five non-negotiable provisions that should be included in the bill that Congress will approve.

These are to professionalize school security officers with child protection training, behavioral threat assessment and non-punitive tip lines, mandating a minimum ratio of licensed guidance counsellors or school psychologists and establishing cluster-based itinerant mental health teams for rural and geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas, trauma-informed emergency drills and 15-minute parental notification, and youth co-governance in school safety.

DepEd said it is targeting to fill up 10,000 positions for guidance counselors before the end of the year. –NB, GMA News