The Commission on Human Rights supports House Bill (HB) No. 0284 or the proposed State Universities and Colleges (SUCs) Mental Health Service Act which seeks to uphold the well-being of students enrolled in SUCs. Under HB 0284, programs and services shall be made available for students to assist in resolving emotional, behavioral and psychosocial issues and address their being barriers to learning. The bill would also help prepare faculty members and other non-teaching personnel in creating safe spaces conducive to learning.

We thank the House of Representatives for the approval of this bill on its second reading, and we hope for its expedited approval to help students in higher education institutions (HEIs) cope better with the pressures brought about during this pandemic. In light of the need to provide comprehensive programs to protect students’ mental health during this pandemic, the Commission also takes note of the Department of Education’s (DepEd) collaboration with the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Tropical Medicine and Public Health Network (SEAMEO TROPMED) for the pilot testing of a School Mental Health Model.

The School Mental Health program will feature modules and a screening tool to explain mental health issues, and give psychosocial support and services to students as well as school personnel. This together with DepEd’s proposed work on School Mental Health policy will help ensure that students in the basic education will have better access to mental healthcare.

At a time when numerous students are feeling the pressures of online schooling, the aforementioned actions are a timely response to ensuring a comprehensive set of solutions to the growing problems of student burnout in all levels of education. In protecting the mental health of students, the Commission hopes that every school also develop its own mental health policy to better assess the mental well-being of its students.