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Senator Sonny Angara is urging the Senate to look into the recent cases of suicides by public school teachers.
Angara, in a statement on Friday, said he has filed Senate Resolution No. 914, “in time for the celebration of World Teachers’ Day.”
The probe, he said, aims to determine whether the suicides were indeed caused by heavy teacher workload as claimed by a group pushing for teachers’ rights and welfare.
It also aims to come up with measures that would address the lack of qualified mental health professionals in the public education system, the senator added.
In seeking the probe, Angara particularly cited the case of a newly-hired teacher from La Paz, Leyte, who hanged himself last July, and another young teacher from Bacoor City, Cavite, who also committed suicide a month after.
Accounts from the teachers’ colleagues and comments of their friends in social media reveal that one of the factors that could be related to their suicide was the workload given to them, Angara said.
The senator also lamented the shortage of registered guidance counselors in public schools.
He also said that under the standards of the Department of Education (DepEd), public and private elementary and high schools should have one guidance counselor for every 500 students.
READ: DepEd urged to lighten teacher workloads following suicide reports
“Current conditions with regard to the availability of guidance counselors in public schools make it harder for our teachers to seek professional help especially since these guidance counselors often care only to students,” he said.
READ: Don’t blame heavy workloads for suicide of teachers – Briones
Meanwhile, Angara added that higher salaries for teachers is part of improving their working conditions.
He said he also filed Senate Bill No. 135 to upgrade the minimum salary grade level of public school teachers from salary grade 11 to 19, which will double their monthly pay from P20,179 to P42,099.
The Department of Health (DOH) reminded the public, especially those who may have mental health issues, that they can contact the DOH’s 24/7 Hopeline to either help them unburden their emotional baggage or to seek professional help. Hopeline can be reached via tel. no. (02) 8044673, mobile no. 0917 558 4673 or toll-free 2919 for Globe and TM subscribers. /muf