Mental health issues linked to high
college dropout rate
Source: INQUIRER.net
Faith Agrosino
Mental health issues are among the major reasons why college students
drop out of school, according to the Commission on Higher Education
(CHEd) Chairman Prospero de Vera III. De Vera revealed this during the
Senate subcommittee on finance’s Tuesday hearing after Senator Joel
Villanueva raised issues concerning the high attrition rate among college
students. De Vera said financial difficulty, which covers transportation
costs, clothing, food, and internet, family problems, relocation, mental
health; and academic difficulty are the main reasons behind the dropout
rate.
“Emerging reason is a mental health concern that we did not expect
previously, while academic difficulty placed only fifth. Mental health
concern is a higher reason for stopping [compared to] academic difficulty.
They are having difficulty studying, but their mental health has really
been affected,” de Vera said. “Looking at the data, an alarming number of
college students dropped out of college for example, batch 2021
registered a 40.6 percent attrition rate while batch 2022 registered a 39.3
percent attrition rate,” Villanueva said.
“It appears now that at least four out of 10 students in higher education
either temporarily or permanently left school last academic year 2022 to
2023. Of 17 regions, BARMM posted the highest attrition rate at 93.4
percent,” Villanueva added. De Vera said CHEd already has two projects
on mental health. “We are working with Miriam College to roll out training
of guidance counselors in schools and also the support staff on how to
identify mental health concerns; we have a project with UNILAB because
they have a toolkit already on mental health, which we are rolling out to
the schools,” he said.
PBBM Oks law to arrest ‘alarming’ mental health
concerns among youth
Source: Philippine News Agency
Darryl John Esguerra
Published December 9, 2024
President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. On Monday signed into law a measure
seeking to institutionalize the promotion of mental health in basic
education to significantly enhance government efforts in addressing the
“alarming” mental health concerns among the youth. In a ceremony in
Malacañang, Marcos signed Republic Act (RA) 12080 or the Basic
Education Mental Health and Well-Being Promotion Act, to allow schools to
become “sanctuaries of learning and of well-being.”The law, according to
the President, mandates the establishment and implementation of mental
health and well-being programs for both basic education learners and
teaching and non-teaching personnel in public and private schools.This is
to ensure that students and teachers are emotionally and mentally
“equipped to excel” amid facing modern challenges.“When our learners
and school personnel are mentally healthy, academic performance
improves, absenteeism decreases, and a culture of compassion and
understanding flourishes,” Marcos said.
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,” he added.Marcos said Philippine statistics on
mental health concerns are “alarming,” noting that 17 percent of young
people have “contemplated taking their life, yet less than 1 percent
sought professional help.”“This law aims to bridge that gap by embedding
mental health services directly into our schools—our nation’s first line of
defense against mental health issues,” he said.With the enactment of the
new law, care centers will be established in every public basic education
school, headed by a school counselor and assisted by school counselor
associates that will provide counseling and stress management workshops
and implement programs that will help reduce stigma on mental health.
