The Senate has recently passed on third and final reading a proposed bill that seeks to address the psychological, emotional and the shortage of mental health professionals among students and its representatives in the education system.
This comes after the aggravated effect of the COVID-19 pandemic, which lawmakers say had an impact among those that were mentioned.
The bill, titled the Basic Education Mental Health and Well-Being Promotion Act, passed in a unanimous votation among senate members resulting to 272-0 with no abstentions.
The legislation would provide funds to establish a pipeline for school-based mental health service professionals. Additionally, it would grow the number of mental health experts at elementary and secondary schools even those that are based in far-flung locations.
The measure would direct the Department of Education to “hire and deploy mental health professionals within five years from the effectivity of said law, such that each public elementary and secondary school, vocational institution, and offices in the central, regional, and schools’ division governance levels of the DepEd shall have mental health professionals or mental health service provider.”