STRENGTHENING PROMOTION, DELIVERY OF MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES
RACHEL-AN H. GUEVARRA
The House of Representatives passed on third and final reading a proposed measure seeking to strengthen the promotion and delivery of mental health services in basic education through the hiring and deployment of mental health professionals. House Bill 6574, or the proposed Basic Education Mental Health and Well-Being Promotion Act, is a consolidation of House Bills 929, 3691, 4162 and 4194. The authors urged for the passage of the measure to ease the severe shortage of mental health professionals in the basic education system, and properly addressing the emotional, psychological and mental health well-being of both learners and teachers, especially in the aftermath of the pandemic. The measure also seeks to enhance their classroom and learning preparedness, including learners identified as children in conflict with the law, students at risk of dropping out, learner-victims of Violence Against Women and Children, and learners-victims of other related forms of child abuse and criminal acts. Under HB 6574, a Mental Health and Well-being Office, under the administration and supervision of the Department of Education (DepEd), shall be established in every school division. It also mandates the hiring and deployment of 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 providers. The Mental Health and Well-being Office at the school’s division level shall be headed by a qualified Mental Health Professional with the position of Guidance Services Specialist V with Salary Grade 24. To lure more mental health professionals in the basic education system, HB 6574 also provides for the hiring of a sufficient number of mental health professionals with salary grades not lower than Salary Grade 16, including guidance associates and psychometricians at the entry level of Salary Grade 11. The measure likewise allows public schools to hire graduates with relevant background in psychology or similar fields, who may not yet qualify as mental health professionals, to provide school-based mental health services, provided that they undergo training on capacity building as determined by the DepEd. Mental health professionals in the DepEd shall enjoy the rights and privileges provided for in the Magna Carta for Public Health Workers, Mental Health Act and other pertinent laws. The DepEd shall provide for sufficient resources for mental health programs and projects designed to maintain and address the mental health and well-being of learners and personnel.
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The author is Teacher II at Dolores National High School