Probe ‘loaded’ SHS curriculum amid mental health issues affecting youth – Robes

PHOTO/Cody Cepeda, INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines — The House of Representatives should probe the crafting of senior high school (SHS) curriculum amid the mental health issues affecting the country’s youth, San Jose del Monte Rep. Florida Robes urged Tuesday.

In a privilege speech during the House plenary, Robes questioned the difficult subjects like calculus, statistics, and research being offered to SHS students. The district lawmaker also cited reports that mental illness and suicide cases among the youth continue to rise.

“School life has become [a] source of high levels of stress, as well,” Robes said. “Our senior high school students speak of difficulty coping with increased pressure and stress with the lumping of too many difficult subjects, too many academic requirements, lack of guidance and counseling, heightened competition and increasing level of expectation from teachers and parents.”

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Citing 2017 World Health Organization report, she said suicide rates in the Philippines are about 6 for males and 2 for females per 100,000, while over 2,000 cases of suicide were recorded from 2000 to 2012. The majority of individuals dying by suicide are at their young ages between 15 to 29 years old, she added.

In a bid to address this issue, the second-termer solon also called on government institutions, particularly the Commission on Higher Education and the Department of Education, to lead the formulation and implementation of an ethical orientation program.

She also urged the Department of Health to step-up its implementation of Republic Act No. 11036 or the Philippine Mental Health Law passed last year, and implement community-based mental health programs.

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Robes also raised the possibility of toning down the “steep” requirements for licensed guidance counselors under Republic Act 9258 or the Guidance and Counseling Act of 2004.

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