In the previous school year, the Department of Education recorded 254 suicides and 1,492 suicide attempts among students in basic education. The numbers were higher than the 198 suicides and 941 attempts recorded in school year 2022-2023. At the height of the COVID lockdowns from 2021 to 2022, DepEd recorded 404 suicides and 2,147 attempts by students.
The Young Adult Fertility and Sexuality Study conducted by the University of the Philippines Population Institute in 2021 found that 20 percent of Filipinos aged 15 to 25 have contemplated suicide. In the same year, 7.5 percent of Filipino youths – about 1.5 million – attempted to end their life.
That’s a lot of young Filipinos seeking to kill themselves, with only less than one percent seeking professional help, according to President Marcos. Yesterday, he moved to address the problem by signing Republic Act 12080, the Basic Education Mental Health and Well-Being Promotion Act covering both public and private schools.
The law seeks to institutionalize school-based mental health services not only for basic education students, but also for teaching and non-teaching personnel. The services include screening, evaluation, monitoring of mental well-being, mental health first aid as well as crisis response and referral. Each school division is required to establish an office dedicated to mental well-being. Over 4,000 posts will be created for mental health counselors.
“Beyond being a safeguard to our youth and school personnel, this law is also an investment in the intellectual, emotional, and social future and development of our nation,” the President said, adding that schools are “the nation’s first line of defense against mental health issues.”
As in most laws in this country, the devil will be in the implementation. The country has an acute lack of mental health professionals. The World Health Organization recommends a ratio of one psychiatrist per 10,000 people; psychologists, one for every 5,000, and one school counselor or psychologist per 500 students.
Not all of the estimated 1,700 psychologists in the country are practicing. Guidance counselors currently require a master’s degree, and the government reportedly intends to lower training requirements. The mind is a tricky thing; some quarters in the profession have expressed concern that going for quantity at the expense of quality training could do more harm than good to the people the counselors will be assisting. Such concerns must be considered as the government prepares to roll out a wellness program that is long overdue.