SENATOR Sherwin Gatchalian said the mental health program of the Department of Education should be cohesive and holistic to effectively uphold the well-being of learners.

Gatchalian was alarmed by reports that many schools could not fully implement the mental health program for lack of personnel.

The DepEd earlier said that 404 learners took their own lives in 2021 while 2,147 attempted suicide.

DepEd records also show that only 16,557 out of the country’s 60,157 schools have guidance offices and only 21,837 schools have conducted mental health celebration and awareness programs.

“In my own observation, our mental health program is incohesive and not holistic. We need to institutionalize it and make it sustainable too,” Gatchalian said.

The chairman of the Senate Committee on Basic Education also noted that despite the parents’ crucial role in upholding the well-being of children, they have no formal involvement in the DepEd’s mental health programs.

The senator filed the Basic Education Mental Health and Well-Being Promotion Act or Senate Bill 379 which seeks to institutionalize the Mental Health Program.

This will provide mental health services, emotional, developmental and preventive programs, and other support services to ensure the social and emotional well-being of basic education learners and teaching and non-teaching personnel.

To meet the need for guidance counselors, Gatchalian proposed to raise their salaries.

Under the bill, the salary of Guidance Counselor I will increase to Salary Grade 16 or P39,672 from SG 11 or P27,000, Guidance Counselor II to SG 17 or P43,030 from SG 12 or P29,165, and Guidance Counselor III to SG 18 or P46,725 from SG 13 or P31,320.

Gatchalian also proposed the creation of a new position to be known as Guidance Associate that will actively participate in the implementation of the Mental Health and Well-Being Program.